I'll be right back (in 24 years)
by AnaIsFangirling
Summary: When Derek thought about time travel – and he did, a lot – this was not what he'd had in mind.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

When Derek thought about time travel – and he did, a lot – this was not what he'd had in mind. He'd thought he would see his younger self, tell him to leave Paige alone and NEVER trust Kate Argent. He'd thought he'd get to come back once that was done and everything would be perfect. He never imagined having to relive his entire life.

The witch was supposed to be easy to deal with. She wasn't hurting anyone really, but the sheriff was starting to be concerned about all the "odd" events going on; a cheating husband being incapable – literally – of putting pants on; an evil boss handing himself over for fraud and then denying it; school bullies becoming their victim's slaves, willingly. All those things could have been considered justified, but people were asking questions so John had asked Derek and his pack to look into it.

A few days later, they finally found the witch. They tried to talk to her but Derek, being … well, Derek, managed to piss her off rather quickly. He never saw it coming, and before he knew it, everything was black.

* * *

><p>When he woke up, he was in a giant crib. At least that's what he thought until he realized that the crib wasn't big; his body was tiny. He couldn't even lift his own head so he was probably very VERY young; which was probably why he started to cry uncontrollably.<p> 


	2. Chapter 1: the first year

**Chapter 1**

It didn't take long for Derek to realize that being a baby sucked. Sure, when his mom came into his nursery to rock him back to sleep, it had felt like a dream… And then he woke up with a dirty diaper. Obviously, since he was "technically" a baby, there was nothing to be ashamed of… as a 24 year old, this was hell. He apparently had no control over his own body, other than making some very ridiculous baby noises and maybe a few (probably unrecognizable) expressions. His mother came back and immediately put him on the changing table.

"God you stink Der-bear." She said while looking down at him lovingly.

_Thanks mom, rub it in, why don't you…_ For his own sanity, Derek decided to close his eyes and go to his happy place until he was clean and dressed.

When that was done, she took him in her arms, keeping him close to her chest. In the kitchen, they found his dad making pancakes while 5 year old Laura talked 10 year old Peter's ears off. Talia put him down in a sleeper on top off the table, right next to Peter. She started to heat up a bottle for Derek, and a good thing to because he was starving. In that instant, he was very glad that his mom hated to breast feed. He remembered when Cora had been a baby; he had asked her what that weird pump thingy was. And boy how he'd regretted it.

Everything was peaceful, until Peter decided to poke him in the stomach.

"Why is he so quiet?"

_Why are you such a brat? Leave me alone, you idiot!_ Sadly, Derek's trademark stare didn't seem to be working at that age. Talia finally sat down next to her son with his food. She took him back in her arms before giving it to him.

"I don't know… He looks okay though. Maybe he's just tired." She said.

_No I'm not, don't you dare put me back in that crib._

The day went on in a series of feeding, burping, changing and sleeping. When he woke up that night, starving so much it hurt, he decided to stay quiet. He was an adult, he could wait. He managed to fall asleep again only to wake up probably less than an hour later. His parents came, looking rather worried. They saw him lying there, awake and silent. They fed him and put him back to bed, watching him until he fell asleep.

The next few days were pretty much the same. He ate, burped, got changed, watched the world around him and slept. He stayed silent, even when someone tried to play with him, which consisted of making him hold one of their fingers in his hand. He continued to stay silent at night for 3 days until he realized that his silence was making his parents worry a lot. Then one morning, when he saw how worried and exhausted they were, he made the decision to at least pretend to be a kid. It was hard at first. His first attempt at crying in the middle of the night was quite pathetic. He sounded more annoyed then hungry, but it did the trick. Thankfully he didn't have to cry to get changed; the smell was enough for every werewolf in the house to know he needed a new diaper. During the day though, it was rather easy. He never would have thought that being an infant was so much fun. He giggled, cooed and smiled (well tried to anyway) at everyone except Peter. Every time Peter touched him he screamed, when Peter talked to him he stared and the only time Peter tried to hold him he slapped him as hard as he could. It wasn't really hard, but the 10 year old got the message.

_Fuck you Uncle Peter, I don't like you._

* * *

><p>A few months later, Derek felt like he was coming back to civilization. He could move around a little bit better (mostly just turn from his back to his front) and hold his head up, but most importantly: he could babble... and it was awesome. Every time someone talked to him he could actually give them an answer. They didn't get him most of the time, he couldn't form words or anything, but he could communicate his emotions better; especially to Peter. Now the stares and hits (which were getting stronger) came with angry screams and babbled insults. Derek was pretty sure his first word will be "Asshole"; actually he'll probably make sure of it.<p>

* * *

><p>Seven months after his arrival, Derek could finally crawl! Well sort of. Almost. He was on his hands and knees, trying to move forward or backward but sadly staying still. He probably looked ridiculous going back and forth without actually lifting any of his members, but he could feel it: soon, he would be able to move around.<p>

* * *

><p>When he finally managed to stand while holding his dad's leg, he felt like partying. Sadly his improvised happy dance sent him back on his bottom. His eyes watered even if he wasn't sad or hurt, just really frustrated and his dad picked him up, kissing his forehead before holding him against his chest.<p>

"We should probably start child proofing everything" he said to Talia.

_God, I never thought I'd say that, but I can't wait for puberty …_

* * *

><p>"A'ole" The silence that followed Derek's first real word was enough to know they had understood him,no matter how bad it had sounded. And Derek had never been prouder of himself. It was definitely worth his first time out.<p>

* * *

><p>Derek's first birthday was one of the best days of his life, old and new. He was on his mom's lap, surrounded by the whole pack, including his mom's other brother Jared; who was studying law at UCLA, and his grandmother on his father's side as well as his father's sister, Malory, and her son Tom. He didn't remember his grandmother from his old life but he could see now where his father got his "zen" attitude.<p>

Derek opened his gifts with as much enthusiasm and dexterity a one year could hope for. The toys looked nice even though he knew he would only play with them if he had to pretend. And the cake, that he was wearing, was delicious. He looked around at his family, his pack, and smiled. This time would be better; he'd make sure of it. This time, no one would die.


	3. Chapter 2: The second chance

**Chapter 2**

On what should have been Derek's 26th birthday (but was instead his 2nd), he finally managed to climb out of his crib by himself. Once on the floor, he felt like screaming "Freedoooom!" but he only did it in his head, since he had no way of explaining how he knew that reference and the noise would wake everyone in the house. He looked up at the door thinking "_What the fuck do I do now?_". There was no way he could reach the door knob.

He ended up sitting on the floor, waiting.

When his mother arrived to take him downstairs, he was still sitting there like an idiot.

"I out!" He screamed to share his pride. _Look Mom, I'm old enough for a real bed now! Please…_

"I can see that but why did you get out of bed?" She looked slightly worried. "You could've hurt yourself!"

Derek refused to listen to this. He was 26 years old; he should have been allowed to get up early if he wanted to. He walked as fast as his little legs permitted it, trying to avoid his mom's arms when he walked by her. She looked amused and let him go before following him to make sure he wouldn't try the stairs alone.

* * *

><p>As usual, Mr. Hale was making breakfast while Peter and Laura were already at the kitchen table, waiting. Derek was put in his highchair (which was as far away from Peter as possible since the mashed potatoes incident.) and a few minutes later he had a sippy cup with what smelled like apple juice in front of him.<p>

"Noooo!" He pushed the sippy cup away and looked up at his mom. _Apple juice? I don't like apple juice, I never liked apple juice! Why are you doing this to me?_

"Derek! Careful! What's wrong with you today?"

_What's wrong with ME? You're the one giving me apple juice. _"No juss!" _What happened to orange juice? Orange was fine. I want orange juice! _He tried to communicate through his eyes but all he got was an exasperated look from Talia. The puppy eyes didn't work either.

"He's such a whiner…"

_And you're such a dick_. Derek stared at his uncle, who was _probably responsible for the lack of orange juice, the jerk. _The 12 year old stared right back and the daily Derek and Peter staring contest started.

* * *

><p>It was a Wednesday, so Derek stayed home with his dad while Laura and Peter were at school and Talia was at work. They were watching cartoons, which had become Derek's favorite activity, when the phone rang. Mr. Hale left the room to answer and then came back with an angry look stuck on his face. Still, he forced himself to smile when he told Derek they were going out for a bit.<p>

"Out!" Derek squealed eagerly. He wanted to ask where they were going but he hadn't mastered "Where" yet. Actually he couldn't say much more than "Out", "No", "Mama", "Dada" and "A'hole". He was starting to get worried, but then again, his mom had always said he had been a late bloomer speech wise.

* * *

><p>After 20 minutes in the car, and that was a very long time to be stuck in a car seat, they finally stopped in what looked like Beacon hills' middle school.<p>

_Oh... Peter got in trouble…_ Derek found himself unable to stop smiling.

Derek was put in his stroller, even after protesting vehemently for 5 minutes. Derek wanted to cry to make sure his dad understood how much he hated it, but Peter would make fun of him. Speaking of which, they found him on one of the seats in front of the principal's office. There was also a teacher and three other boys. All three of them had bruises and one had a busted lip.

Mr. Hale took Peter aside and started whispering. Derek could hear them talking about what had happened. According to Peter, the three boys started it and deserved it. He refused to say much more after that. They all waited until each boy had an authority figure with them before going into the office.

Derek already had a smirk ready for when Peter would get blamed; he had practiced it for days.

"First of all, I'd like to say that violence, for any reason, is not tolerated in this school."

_Oh you are so going to get grounded Uncle Peter_.

"But bullying a student is unacceptable. Mr. Thomas saw those three boys insulting and pushing Mr. Hale in the hallway long before Mr. Hale threw the first punch. It is understandable that anyone would feel the need to defend themselves when being attacked, and I do mean attacked because that's what it was, by three other students."

_Oh_.

"And this is not the first time your sons are caught tormenting other students, including Mr. Hale. I think, and Mr. Thomas agrees, that you three would benefit from a few hours of detention, every day, for two weeks. Mr. Hale will have detention tomorrow as well, for using violence instead of asking for a teacher's help."

_Peter was bullied? I always thought he must have been the most popular guy in his school. _When he looked up at his uncle, Peter had his head down. Derek could see tears falling before being quickly wiped.

* * *

><p>The ride back was silent. Derek's dad looked like he wanted to say something but didn't know how. Peter wasn't crying anymore but he kept his head down. Derek never would have thought that his uncle had ever been bullied. They were werewolves, being popular at school was supposed to be easy for them. It had been for Derek. Maybe that's it… The thing that happened in Peter's life that made him the manipulative jerk Derek had always known.<p>

_I've been doing this all wrong…_

* * *

><p>When they got home, Derek wasted no time. He told his father "I play" before following Peter, who had run to his room as soon as the car had stopped. His father knew he'd lied but maybe he'd have enough time to execute the "Save Peter Plan".<p>

He got lucky; the door was ajar so he didn't have to beg at the door until Peter caved in. Instead he pushed the door and walked right in. Peter was sitting on the floor, his back leaning against his bed. The 12-year-old didn't move or even looked up at the toddler.

Derek jumped forward; he stood on his uncle's lap to be able to put both of his arms around Peter's neck. They stayed in that position for a while until Derek's legs started to wobble and he fell backward. Peter caught him before siting him on his lap.

"I thought you hated me." Derek's heart broke; he couldn't believe he had refused to give a second chance to his Uncle when he got his without asking.

"I sowwy."


	4. Chapter 3: Boredom and hell

**Chapter 3**

Boredom was always dangerous; Derek had found that out when he had met Stiles. Seriously, the guy went into a forest, at night, to look for half a dead body... just for fun. And now Derek could understand why. He was 2 and a half years old and cartoons were fine, but after more than 2 years of teddy bears and books with more pictures than words, the tiny werewolf was starting to lose his mind.

That's why mission "Get a book" was born.

First he thought about finding his way into his mother's office, where his parent's books were, but she had been working there a lot lately and the door was always closed anyway … not locked, but he couldn't reach the doorknob. Then he thought about his parent's bedroom, but the only books there were the ones they were currently reading and, not only would they notice their disappearance, they would know it had been him because of their sense of smell. Same for Peter who had started to really grow into his werewolf powers when he had reached puberty. So, there really was only one place he could look for a book: Laura's room.

Laura never really liked books, at least not then, but he knew she had one somewhere. He remembered that day in New York, when he had dragged her in a secondhand bookshop to get enough books for the week (he was aiming for 4 minimum but 6 might have been better, just in case). They had been walking around for 10 minutes when she broke down in tears. When he turned around to ask her what was wrong, he saw her standing there, sobbing, with one hand covering her mouth and the other holding an old copy of the Hobbit. They went back to their apartment without saying a word. That night she told him how their mother had been trying to make her read more since she was a little girl but Laura never liked reading. She'd whine for days every time she had to read something for school. She had even tried to make Derek write an essay for her once. But Talia had been hopeful and every year, she gave her one book for her birthday. The first one had been The Hobbit on Laura's 8th birthday. The very next day, Derek went back to the bookshop and bought it for her. He had waited for her next birthday before giving it to her. After that, she had read every book Tolkien had ever wrote.

A few weeks ago, Laura had turned 8 and just like she had told him, there had been a copy of the Hobbit among her presents. The Laura from this time had not been impressed; she barely looked at it before demanding that her Barbie be rescued from her plastic cage so she could play with it. She wouldn't notice it if it's gone, he just had to take it.

The opportunity arrived on a Wednesday. It was the early afternoon, Laura and Peter were still at school and his dad was out. His mom let him alone in his room to work on a case that was obviously very important since this was the first time he had been left to play alone. She was a few doors down in her office which meant he would have to be extra careful not to make any sound but this was probably his only chance.

He crawled his way towards Laura's bedroom, thinking it would make less noise. Once inside, he stood up and looked around. There was no book on the bedside table_, no surprise there_, nothing on the floor, _because that would have been too easy_, but when he looked higher he saw it. It was on the top shelf over her desk.

The first thing he did was climbing on her desk chair. But by the time he had managed to reach the top, the thing had rolled away from the desk. He tried to move his body back and forth, making the chair roll even further away, before giving up and getting back down. He rolled it back against the desk and climbed again, this time making sure he was pushing it toward the desk. After that, he stood up on top of the desk but it still wasn't enough. He took everything he could find on the lower shelf - mostly dictionaries, encyclopedias and coloring books – and pilled them up next to the shelves. It wasn't really stable, but by standing on his toes he finally managed to grab the book.

Climbing down was a lot easier and before he knew it, he was on the floor with the book opened on his lap. "_In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit._" And for a few minutes, Derek was content… until Laura arrived and started to yell.

"What are you doing in my room?! Give that back, it's mine!" and just like that, his precious loot was gone.

* * *

><p>A few months later, he wished he was back home with a boring teddy bear. But no, Derek was now in hell … also known as "preschool". There were children, tiny, real children, everywhere. Some were crying, others were screaming and the few quiet ones were eating arts and craft supplies. Miss Bonny looked nice but she was completely out of her depth. Obviously, this was her first day in the job. She was trying to calm the crying children while looking desperately at the arts and crafts eaters.<p>

_Well, now that I'm here I might as well do something useful._

Derek took the supplies away, putting them one by one in the cupboard were they had come from, before taking the child who now had glue and glitter on his face to Miss Bonny. She thanked him profusely and took the kid to get washed up when another woman came to help.

Less than an hour later, Miss bonny made them all sit in a semicircle around her.

"Hi everyone! I know today is very scary for you, but I swear everything will be okay."

_You're the only one who's scared right now. _

"Now, we're all going to introduce ourselves in front of the class. When I call your name, I want you to stand up, then tell us your full name and say one thing that you like and one that you don't like. For example: My name his Bonny Staford, I like books and I don't like when people are being mean."

_Oh god, I can hear the lie even with my baby hearing._

One by one the children gave their names (except for the few who couldn't remember their last name) and talked about various foods, toys and people they liked or disliked.

"Derek, it's your turn."

_Well here goes nothing._ "My name's Dew… DeRek Hale." _Fucking Rs._ "I like … wolves" _I guess, why not._ "and I don't like … fire."The silence that followed was probably due to the fact that half of those kids didn't know what wolves were or why fire could be scary, but Miss Bonny was stunned to; she realized that one of her students was different.

"You're right Derek, fire is very dangerous." He looked up at her with a look that was probably way too old for a 3 year old.

"I know."


	5. Chapter 4: We meet again

**Chapter 4**

Derek had a plan, a new one; better than sneaking in Laura's room. And today was the day. For the first time in 3 weeks the kids (well the other kids) were quiet during play time. Miss Bonny was at her desk, watching over them. He approached her slowly.

"Hey Derek what's up?" she asked when she noticed him. He wasn't sure if this was going to work but he needed this, for his own sanity. He must have looked shy because she got up and then knelt in front of him before asking him "Derek what is it?" tenderly.

"Can … Can you teach me how to read, please?"

* * *

><p>Once a week, for that entire year in preschool, Miss Bonny and Derek used playtime for reading lessons. Derek had to fake at first but after a year he could "read" perfectly. He had bragged about his special reading lessons to his whole family. His mom gave him some books (there was still too much pictures but it was still progress). His dad was so proud he kept bragging about it to every other grownup he could find, and Peter let him read his books while he was doing his homework, it soon became Derek's favorite time of the day. He would lie on his stomach on Peter's bed with a book opened in front of him, his tiny legs moving up and down when he read an exciting scene.<p>

The years flew by after that. He got used to being a child, being happy. He remembered where he came from, what happened in his previous life, but he thought about it less and less every day. He was so used to this life; it was actually a surprise when his mom and dad told him he was going to be a big brother. He was almost 6. Cora was coming ... which meant that a few months after Cora, Stiles would be born.

Derek had tried not to think about him since it had happened. They had barely started dating. Actually Derek had not even thought about Stiles that way until Stiles had asked him out a few days after he had turned 18. At first he was going to say no, but he couldn't find any reason to. They were good friends back then, Stiles was legal and even Derek could see that he was cute.

They went to a movie first. Derek picked the movie but he chose one he thought Stiles would like; something with superheroes he couldn't even remember the name of. The first few minutes were awkward but Stiles started talking, whispering facts about the characters and for some reason Derek found that endearing. They didn't kiss that night. Derek had wanted to, but for some reason he got scared. If Stiles hadn't called the very next day to invite Derek to dinner, he probably would have chickened out from the whole thing. But he did go to dinner with Stiles. They talked for hours and this time Derek kissed him goodnight. By the time Derek got sent back, they had gone to 4 dates and kissed 3 times. Derek had hoped that their next date, TV and pizza at Derek's loft, would be the perfect occasion for a first make out session. Obviously now it wouldn't happen … for at least 18 years.

* * *

><p>Cora was loud. Derek started to regret crying and screaming when he was a baby, this was torture. It was Saturday afternoon and she had been screaming her lungs out for hours. There was only one thing left for Derek to do.<p>

"Come on, Uncle Peter! Please! We could go see a movie! Or to the mall! Please!" Yes, begging his 16 year old uncle was the only way. They had to leave before Derek decided that running into the forest alone wasn't such a bad idea.

"But I don't want to go out! Just go annoy someone else." Derek was about to try again but Talia came into Peter's room and interrupted him.

"Actually, Peter, we're running low on some groceries, would you mind going to the store? I'll make a list."

_Alleluia, thanks mom._

* * *

><p>On the way to the grocery store, Derek realized that Peter was to quiet. Usually he would ask Derek about school or they would talk about the books they were reading. But for the last few days, Peter had been silent. He only talked when he had to and spent a lot of time either out or locked up in his room.<p>

_I _ _guess it started then._

"I know about your girlfriend." _Smooth Derek, and how am I going to explain that now? Fuck._

"I don't know what you're talking about." Peter kept staring at the road, his hands clenching the steering wheel so hard he could probably break it.

"Liar." It was weird seeing Peter like this. Even before the fire, he was always in control; but right now, Derek didn't even need to hear his heartbeat to know he was lying.

"What is it to you anyway?" Peter parked the car and turned around to look at Derek in the back sit.

"You should leave her. She won't leave him, you know that."

"You don't know ANYTHING. She loves me; she's going to leave him. She said she will!" There it was again, the blatant lie. Although, this time Derek wasn't sure who Peter was trying to convince: his nephew or himself.

"No Peter, she won't. She won't leave her fiancé for a 16 year old; she'd end up in jail."

Peter stared at Derek, trying to understand how. How did Derek find out? How can he sound so sure? How did he become so … grown up? He was 6 years old; he shouldn't even understand any of this.

"How ? … You? I don't get it! You shouldn't… Fuck"

_Maybe I went too far. He'll know something is up now…_

* * *

><p>Things were still awkward for the first 5 minutes in the store, but then Derek went back to being a 6-year-old and Peter probably thought he had been crazy thinking his nephew was abnormal somehow. They almost had everything when Derek suddenly ran towards the baby aisle. Peter called after him but his nephew ignored him. He went after Derek and found him looking down into a baby carriage with a young couple standing next to him.<p>

"Uncle Peter, look!" Derek whispered. "It's a baby!"

"I know what a baby looks like Derek, we left a screaming one back home." Clearly, the man didn't like Peter's repartee; he stared at Peter, who just then realized the man was wearing a uniform. "I'm sorry if my nephew is bothering you Sir …?"

"Stilinski. And it's no trouble at all; this little man was very polite." The 'unlike you' was silent but Peter got the message.

While Peter tried (and mostly failed) to smooth things over with the Deputy, Derek continued to admire the baby who one day would ask to be called Stiles. And who one day, hopefully, would be his boyfriend.

_I _ _have 18 years to make a plan, how could I fail?_


	6. Chapter 5: Changes are made

**Chapter 5**

A few weeks after that day at the grocery store, Derek realized that meeting Stiles so soon wasn't such a good thing after all; now he couldn't get him out of his head. Not the baby, obviously, but the teenager who had annoyed him for 2 years. He thought about those 4 dates and 3 kisses, wishing he could be 24 sooner. He tried to occupy himself the best he could. He did his best at school and, with the knowledge he already had, his teacher decided he should skip a few grades and start third grade the next year. It wasn't part of his initial plan to blend in, but he really couldn't take anymore finger-painting. At home, he spent his time reading or doing the children version of "exercising"; running around outside; which was exactly what he had been doing when he heard someone crying in the forest.

He couldn't hear it clearly, his werewolf hearing hadn't properly kicked in yet, but it was there. He took off, focusing on the sound to make sure he was going the right way. Not too far from the edge but far enough not to be heard from the house, he found Peter sitting on the ground, both his hands covering his face and his body shacking with each sob. Derek walked slowly until he was close enough to put his small hand on his uncle's shoulder.

He didn't ask anything, Peter was crying too much to be able to answer anyway. He just stayed there, trying to be comforting while giving him some space. Eventually the sobbing stopped even though the tears remained.

"She laughed." Peter whispered. "I thought… I thought if I broke up with her she'd... But she laughed." The teenager started to sob again.

_So he did listen_, Derek thought. _I changed something_.

In Derek's old life, no one found out until it was too late. Sarah, the 21 year old Peter had been dating, used him until a few month after his 17th birthday. She told him she loved him and had sex with him, while staying with her fiancé, Larry Tate. Derek never really knew the real story, only that she had left Peter after she had found out she was pregnant and married Larry a few weeks later. Now Malia would never be born and Derek couldn't stop himself from feeling guilty about that. But what life would she have had? A coyote in a girl's body; unable to learn how to be human again but too far gone to go back to being a coyote. The last time Derek had seen her, she was still struggling with her instincts, even after a year of being human.

But this time, Peter broke up with Sarah, probably thinking she would cry and beg him to stay. She would've left Tate and they would've been happy ever after. But she didn't.

"She said she wouldn't leave her fiancé for jailbait…" Derek wrapped his armed around Peter's neck and hugged him the same way he had done 4 years ago. He was about to tell him how much better off he was without her when someone appeared behind them.

* * *

><p>Talia had realized that Derek wasn't in front of the house anymore 5 minutes after he had taken off. She'd followed his sent and found him and Peter while the teenager was talking about a girl leaving him. The alpha was not a fool, she knew Peter had been with someone, but she'd thought it had been a regular relationship between teenagers. When she heard the world "Jailbait" her blood ran cold. She had let someone hurt her beta, her little brother. He was her responsibility since their parents were killed by hunters and she'd failed him. She wanted to rip that bitch's head off.<p>

Talia walked toward Peter and Derek, without a word, she knelt next to them and took them in her arms. Peter stayed still for a few seconds before leaning against her.

"I don't know who she is baby brother, but she's going to regret ever being born. I promise."

* * *

><p>Being a lawyer was probably the only thing that had stopped the Hale Alpha from committing murder that day. Instead, she took both Peter and Derek to the Sheriff's station. While Peter and Talia were talking to the sheriff, Derek was told to stay with the 'nice deputy'; who turned out to be a very tired looking deputy Stilinski.<p>

"So young man, what do you want to do? I could find some papers and crayons for you to draw a nice picture for your mom, what do you say?" John asked. No one had ever told Derek how awkward it would be to talk to your (hopefully) future father in law when both you and your future boyfriend were way too young to even be boyfriends. But he figured most people never got that 'pleasure'.

"No thank you, I'm going to be in 3rd grade next year you know? I'm not a baby." Derek said, trying to sound smart to prove his point; then again, trying to sound smarter than his age might not have been the best approach since the 6 year gap between him and Stiles was big enough as it was.

"Okay, then how about that: have you ever seen a real prison cell?" The deputy said; sure that he would have the 6 year old worship him for showing him something cool.

_As a matter of fact, I have…_

* * *

><p>It took months for Peter to go back to normal. The weeks following the break up were hard on him, especially since he had to testify several times before Sarah was finally sent to jail for a year. After that, Peter had been quiet for a few months before starting to come back to life. Now he was a senior in BHHS and had started dating a nice brunette who shared some of his classes.<p>

Derek had thrived in 3rd grade, his teacher was amazed and he had talked to the middle school to get Derek tested before choosing which grade would suit him best next. Talia was a bit scared to see her son jumping so far ahead and so fast, but all the teachers seemed to think it was for the best. In the end, Derek told them he didn't want to skip more grades. He knew he could, but school was not as fun when even his classmates treated him as a kid. And maybe he didn't want to be so far ahead from the friends he'd had in his previous life; after all, he used to think High School had been the best time of his life … before Kate.


	7. Chapter 6: Howl

**Chapter 6: Howl**

Things were changing, and Derek knew it, but it wasn't really his life that was changing, at least not for a while. He was 8 years old, and as far as he remembered, his life wasn't much different than the first time he had lived it. Peter though, was a lot different. In his previous life, Derek's uncle had barely managed to graduate high school, probably because of his depression following Sarah's betrayal, and had gone to the local community college only to drop out a few months later. This time, Peter had graduated with honors and, in a few weeks, he would be starting his freshman year at Berkeley. Not only that, but he was still dating his high school sweetheart, Winifred, who was also going to attend Berkeley. But none of that had any kind of influence on Derek's own life. Until that day.

Peter was reading under a tree at the edge of the forest and Derek had been allowed to play outside as long as he stayed within his uncle's hearing range. It wasn't often that he was allowed to go in the forest alone, he could barely remember doing that in his previous life, so Derek ran and jumped around like he used to do with Boyd, Erica and Isaac. He was so caught up in the memories of his pack, he didn't realize how far he went. When he finally stopped, he was nowhere near Peter or the house. He was about to turn back when something exploded on the tree next to him, blinding him with flashes of light.

He tried to cover his eyes but it was too late; he couldn't see anything but shapes, his ears where ringing because of the explosion and he could smell 2 strangers around him. There was nothing he could do, he was trapped. Before he could react, one of the strangers grabbed his arms from behind and dragged him until his back hit a tree. His vision started to come back in time to see the other man walking toward him with a chain. A few seconds later he was tied to the tree.

_That never happened before, I would've remembered. _And at that moment he remembered why as a child, he never went in the forest, especially alone: because of Peter. His uncle used to tell him scary stories about the forest and the hunters. He'd told him hunters cut werewolves in two (which was actually true) but also that hunters ate werewolves for breakfast and that young werewolves tasted better. After a few of those stories, young Derek had been too scared to go anywhere near the forest alone, at least until he grew old enough to figure out that Peter was just being a dick.

When Derek managed to snap out of his trip down memory lane, he heard the strangers, probably hunters, whispering to each other. One of them seemed younger, maybe 20, while the other looked old enough to be a grandfather.

"He's just a kid! We can't just kill him!" said the younger one.

"He's a beast! Just like the rest of them, if we don't kill him now, who knows how many he will kill in a few years? Do you want that blood on your hands?"

_This doesn't sound good._ The fight between the hunters kept going and Derek was getting more and more anxious by the minute…until he heard something; a howl. _Peter_. He sounded too far to be able to find them by sent but Derek knew there was a way to get him on the right path. Before the hunters could react, the young werewolf concentrated hard on what little werewolf power he had and tried as hard as he could to remember what it felt like to be a full-grown shape-shifter before howling back. At first he thought it was too weak but, for the first time since he had come back, he felt his face shifting. His claws and fangs were out and he could see a tiny bit better which meant that his eyes were glowing.

The young hunter looked terrified while his companion came running toward Derek before hitting him in the chest with the butt of his rifle. By the time the werewolf got his breath back, Peter appeared out of nowhere with fangs, claws and yellow glowing eyes. The old man aimed his rifle at him but a fraction of second before he fired; Peter grabbed the barrel and pointed it at the other hunter. The shot destroyed the young man's throat, killing him almost instantly. The man holding the rifle froze, his eyes staring at his companion's lifeless body. Peter, who was still holding the barrel, growled before jumping on him. A second shot sounded when they fell on the ground followed only by the animalistic noises Peter was making as he violently and repeatedly slashed the hunter's face and throat.

Derek knew what Peter was capable of, he had seen it before, but this was supposed to be a different Peter. This Peter was never supposed to have the glowing blue eyes that were now looking up at him.


	8. Chapter 7: Consequences

**Chapter 7**

Things were tense at the Hale House. The attack on Derek had been three days ago and for the first time in 8 years he felt like he was back in his old life. Peter was not allowed to leave the house, but it wasn't a problem since he refused to leave his room. He hadn't said a word either and Derek was worried he was going to become the old (well previous) Peter.

The Hale children were not allowed outside of the house alone and they could only ask to go out in a public places with Talia or her husband, the forest was now off-limits. Laura had whined for hours when she'd found out, she was a teenager now and staying home during the summer was 'lame' she said. Cora had cried because it meant she wasn't allowed to go to one of her friend's slumber party. Derek had just nodded.

The worst part was that they hadn't heard anything from the other hunters. Talia had sent a message to the local hunters they had contact with to ask for an explanation. They had no spoken treaty with them but those hunters had been there for years and, even after a few misunderstandings, they had left each other alone. Now Talia wanted to know why two armed hunters had been so close to their house, and most importantly why they had attacked her 8 year old son.

They were eating dinner when Talia suddenly got up and looked outside through the window.

"Hunters?" Derek asked. She did not answer him.

"Take the kids upstairs, get Peter and stay in the safe room." She ordered to her husband. "They don't look armed but it could be a trap."

_So it's a Hale trait to jump into traps willingly? Good to know_. Everyone got up, Laura and Cora already on their way to leave the room.

"I should stay with you, it's me they attacked!" His whole family froze and turned around to stare at him. _Oh right, I'm 8_.

"Derek, go with your father."

"But mom-"

"NOW Derek!" She snapped at him, her eyes flashing red. Derek opened his mouth to protest but his mother was quicker, she looked behind his shoulder at her husband, said "Damien." with her authoritative voice and before a sound could come out of Derek, his father was lifting him and throwing him on his shoulder.

* * *

><p>The safe room was basically a panic room in the middle of the house with no windows, thick walls and a door that could probably withstand an explosion. The only problem about that room was that Derek couldn't hear anything that happened outside of it. His father and Peter probably could but the only thing Derek could hear was his sisters' heart beats. They were each sitting on one side of their father, hiding their faces in his chest while Peter was in a corner, silent.<p>

Derek paced in circles for a few minutes until Damien told him to stop. He sat next to Peter but couldn't stop twitching. His mom was in a dangerous situation that hadn't happened before, _what if she dies even younger than the first time? What if they all died? It's all my fault_…

"She's going to be okay you know." Peter whispered. "She's the Alpha and they're just three little huma-"

"They're hunters!" Derek snapped. "Why do you always have to underestimate humans?"

"What are you talking about? When did I underestimate humans before?"

_Shit. _Derek decided to stop talking, since he was clearly losing control, but Peter had another idea.

"You're weird you know that?" He started. "Ever since you were born I noticed there was something not quite right about you."

Derek refused to answer and kept staring at the wall in front of them.

"You were so quiet… and you kept staring at me with that look… like you knew something; like you hated me." Peter said nothing for a few seconds before continuing. "And then out of nowhere you apologized. I mean; you were what? Two? And you hugged me and said you were sorry like… I don't know, like you actually had been doing it on purpose and realized your mistake. Now, what kind of 2-year-old apologizes for something he had been doing since birth?"

"I … I don't remember it" _And I really hope he can't focus on my heart beat with Laura's and Cora's being so loud. _Peter barely acknowledged Derek's input and kept going with his monologue. He was also staring at the wall and it felt like he was voicing things that had been on his mind for a long time.

"And then that thing with Sarah... There was no way you could've known, I thought about it for weeks, you could NOT have known, no one could've."

_Yeah, I kind of screwed up there._

"The things you said… No 6-year-old should be able to give relationship advices Derek, it's not normal." For a second Derek thought he should tell Peter, but when he turned his head to face him, his eyes fell on his father and sisters. None of them seemed to pay attention to them but Derek knew his father could probably hear everything. Peter followed Derek's gaze.

"Your parents noticed to, you know? Those looks you get sometimes or the way you talk when you get angry; like you're way older than you should be. They don't say anything because they're afraid that it's true; that someway, somehow, you're not… their child." Derek looked his uncle in the eyes but said nothing. He knew that if he tried to deny it, Peter would know he lied. There was no way around this; Peter knew. Now he just had to decide if he should tell them all … or wait and talk to Peter alone.

Before he could decide, Talia opened the door. She looked tired but relieved. "Everything is okay now, let's go downstairs and talk."

* * *

><p>It turned out that the hunters who had come that night came to apologize. The two men who had attacked him were 'newbies' who had decided to go on a hunt without the approval of their superior. Derek hadn't known hunters recruited people that old but then again, those weren't the Argents. They were just a bunch of guys who had found out the truth about the supernatural world and couldn't leave it alone. Talia had talked it out with their leader and now they were about to start negotiating a real treaty, something that definitely had never happened in Derek's previous life. He wasn't sure if that was good or bad, but with the way Peter was looking at him; he clearly had more important things to deal with.<p> 


	9. Chapter 8: Sharing the burden

**Chapter 8: Sharing the burden**

It had taken two days to convince Talia to let Derek and Peter go out without one of the adults. Two days of Peter giving Derek strange looks when no one was looking. Talia finally agreed to let them go see a movie if they promised to stay together and to stay out of trouble. Instead, they went to the park and sat on an isolated bench.

"You have to promise me you won't say anything to the others." Derek started after a few minutes of awkward silence.

"Derek, whatever it is, maybe they should know. I thi-"

"Promise me, or I'm not telling you anything." Derek's voice started to sound more and more like it used to. Or maybe it was just him who became more and more like his old self.

"Fine, I promise I won't tell anyone! Now can you please tell me what it's about, the suspense is killing me." Peter was trying to sound sarcastic but his impatience was too obvious.

"I hum … I technically come from the future?" Derek had been stressing out about this conversation for two days and yet he had never thought about how to tell his uncle the truth. "I mean, not exactly … I'm not even sure if it's the future or some kind of alternate universe. Maybe both, I guess…"

"When … since when are you … not you?" Peter's face was priceless; if Derek wasn't so scared of the consequences, he would totally make fun of it… and probably take pictures.

"I'm still me! I'm Derek, I'm just … reliving my life from the start with the memories from my previous life." _Yeah that's a better way to explain it_. "I was talking to this witch and, for some reason; she cast a spell at me and pouf! I woke up in my crib 24 years in the past." Peter stayed silent for a while; he just stared at nothing in particular while processing what he had just been told. Then he looked back at Derek and opened his mouth but it took a few seconds before he finally chose which question to ask first.

"So you're not really 8 but 24?"

"More like 32 now actually…" _God I'm so old…_

"And you know the future? You know what's going to happen to us for the next few years?"

"I do, well sort off… That's kind of the problem. I changed a few things and now, things are starting to happen that never happened before. Those hunters in the woods, that didn't happened the first time! I had no idea they were going to be there!"

"So that's why you were so scared? Because you didn't know what was going to happen?"

"Yes!"

"Well good for you! Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to change the past? You could create a fucking time paradox and get us all killed!"

_Oh . Peter, I can hear the jealousy from here._

"Didn't you hear what I just said? I already changed things! It's kind of too late to take it back now. Besides, you don't know what happens in the future. Believe me, you'd want me to change it if you did!"

"What do you mean? Are we in danger?"

"Not if I can stop it." After that, Derek decided that Peter knew enough. His uncle kept asking questions until they got home but there was no way he'd tell him about the fire… Or what happened 6 years later.

* * *

><p>A few weeks later, Talia signed a treaty with the local hunters. It was simple, the hunters promised not to hurt innocent werewolves and if they thought a werewolf was killing innocents, they would consult Talia before doing anything. In exchange, Talia promised not to turn any humans and to make sure her pack stayed peaceful. Both sides also promised to keep the other updated on any suspicious activity in the sector. Derek was still uncomfortable about it, he couldn't remember what had happened to those hunters but he knew one thing for sure, when the Argents were here, they had been the only hunters in Beacon Hills.<p>

* * *

><p>When the day of the next full moon arrived, Derek started to feel his wolf getting agitated. At first, he thought it was normal, he barely remembered what it felt like to be so young, maybe his powers were just starting to mature. But by the time the sun started to go down, he lost control over his senses. The music Laura was listening on low volume sounded like it was loud enough to shake the walls, his sense of smell refused to smell anything else then the rabbit not far from the house in the forest. He felt like he could wolf out any second and run off to eat the tiny fluffy thing.<p>

This was definitely NOT normal and that's when he remembered; that night in the forest, when he had howled to call Peter… He had shifted. In his previous life, Derek had been 12 when he first shifted. The first shift is what indicates the beginning of a born werewolf's maturity. He knew now that after tonight, his senses and strength would get better every day until he got back to being a fully grown shape-shifter.

One more thing he had changed, but he had no time to think about the consequences. For now, he had to go to his alpha because the first few full moons were always the worst… Even if he had an anchor, no wolf ever managed to have control on their first full moon.

Talia was not happy about it. She didn't want her baby to grow up too fast, but she had no choice. Laura was starting to gain control but she still needed Talia's presence, so the Alpha took Laura, Peter and Derek and they stayed in the safe room all night.

Derek had to be chained to the wall and Laura soon after. The sight of her little brother mad with rage shattered what little control she had and Talia understood. She could feel her wolf screaming inside of her, she could feel her cub's pain and rage. She had no idea what had happened to Derek and she knew he wasn't going to tell her… and in a way it was probably for the best. If she knew who had caused him so much pain, there would be no chain strong enough to keep her from slashing their throat.


	10. Chapter 9: The wolf's anchor

**Chapter 9: The wolf's anchor**

The sun was already high in the sky when Derek woke up. He opened his eyes briefly but the light was too bright, he felt like he'd been run over by a truck several times and his headache was by far the worst he'd ever had. He tried to stay still but it only made things worse, he couldn't relax his muscles and the pain intensified until it was too much. It started with a small whimper but by the time Talia got into the room, he was already screaming in pain. He felt her hand on his back and the pain started to go away. When he managed to stop screaming he heard her voice whispering soothing words in his ear. A few minutes later he was back in a restless sleep.

* * *

><p>The second time he woke up was to a voice he hadn't heard since he had come back. Deaton and his mom were standing right next to his bed, which confirmed that something was definitely wrong with him.<p>

"…would be better. I don't know why it happened, or how, but there's no way he can learn to control that kind of power at his age." The veterinarian sounded unsure but curious, like he had discovered something new and wanted to know everything about it.

"Are you sure there's nothing we could do?" Talia looked exhausted, it was dark outside but Derek wasn't sure what day it was.

_How long have I been unconscious?_

"All we can do is wait, in the meantime: don't let him out of your sight."

"Mom…" Derek's voice was weak and his throat felt so dry that talking was painful. His mother sat down on his bed and took his hand in hers.

"Derek sweetie, how are you feeling?"

He was about to say that he started to feel better but instead he felt his claws and fangs come out. He had no time to warn his alpha before he had shifted completely and lost control.

* * *

><p>The few weeks following his first full moon were just more of the same. He would have a few minutes off lucidity, several hours of restless sleep and the rest of the time his wolf was out of control. He was chained up to his bed, Talia never leaving his side. She fed him, bathed him and held him in her arms whenever he was lucid enough not to try to kill her. She had tried to force him to shift back when he was out of control but even her influence as his alpha was not enough.<p>

Peter left for college but kept calling every day to get news. Sometimes Talia would put him on speaker and he would talk to Derek about Winifred or his classes or the fraternities he might pledge to. The thought of Peter in a fraternity made Derek laugh for the first time since that first full moon.

Finally, after almost 2 months he started to get better. He still had periods of time when he couldn't control himself but he slept better and had a few hours in the day of "normality". He even started his home-school studies. Obviously, he couldn't go to school but his Dad was qualified enough to teach him. The next full moon was still hell but he managed to wake up without wolfing out the next morning.

His uncle Jared decided to come back to live with them. It was nothing new, he had come back around the same time in Derek's previous life, but this time it was even more welcome. Talia needed her pack and with Peter gone, Jared had to come back for his big sister, for his alpha and especially for his nephew.

Derek's 9th birthday came and went. They had a small family dinner and he got a lot of books from Peter who couldn't be there.

A few months later he was almost back to normal, he still couldn't control the shift but he wasn't feral except for full moons. When he finally managed to get some control, they gradually exposed him back to civilization. They started with a drive around town at night, then the same thing during the day, then a trip to see Deaton who was really impressed with Derek's progress.

On Derek's 10th birthday, he could go into a store with Talia. She celebrated by taking him to the mall (on a weekday to make sure there wouldn't be too many people). They went to a bookshop where he was allowed, not only to take three books of his choice, but also to go to the register on his own. He felt so proud of himself, after more than a year without being able to leave the house, a year of struggling to find his anchor back; he was finally back, hopefully for good.

It had been difficult at first, his old anchor wasn't working anymore. The fire hadn't happen, everyone was alive. He wasn't angry all the time like he used to. Now whenever he felt the wolf getting out of control, he thought of his family. His mom holding him, his father being proud of him, Laura squeezing his hand and reading to him when he couldn't fall asleep once he started to gain his control back, Cora giving him drawings every day when he couldn't leave his room and Peter, calling when he could to talk about everything and nothing at the same time. His family had brought him back, they anchored him. He knew it wasn't enough, he could feel his wolf boiling inside; but for now it would do.

It took him awhile to choose the books, but since his mom had told him he could take anything and she was looking from afar to let him buy them on his own; he took the first book of "A song of Ice and Fire" and two Terry Pratchett. The clerk was nice and everything went well… until Derek left the store, his mom following him, when he heard a scream and froze. A child screaming in the mall was nothing new but somehow that scream resonated in his head… but it wasn't him who was reacting to it, it was his wolf. He dropped the books and ran. He found the source of the scream on the other side of the mall. Stiles.

The three-year-old was standing in the food court, big tears falling down his cheeks. There was no one in the food court except for the teenager working there but he didn't seem to care. Derek knelt in front of Stiles, making sure their eyes were on the same level.

"Hey, what's your name?" Derek could see his mom not too far from them but she stopped and watched. Obviously her son was still in control and maybe this was a good thing.

"…St…Stiles..."

_He was already Stiles at 3? I'm never going to know his real name…_

"Do you want me to help you find your mom?" Stiles looked up, his lips still wobbling but no longer crying. He nodded vigorously.

"Do you remember where you saw her last?"

"We look'd at the shoes and … and then I was hungwy and…"

"So you left to find food?"

"YES! And it says "food" there!" Stiles pointed at the "Food court" sign. "But the mister he didn't wanna give me any, he's mean."

"Yes, yes he is, but you know what? I still got a little money and there's a vending machine just there." Derek got up and took Stiles' hand before walking to the machine. "Reese's?" He asked looking down at little Stiles. "YES!" The three-year-old was no longer crying, he looked up at Derek, jumping up and down with excitement.

"Yes what?"

"Yes please!"

Derek bought the candy before taking them to the nearest bench. His mom was talking to a women and it didn't take long for Derek to figure out it was Stiles' mom. They didn't seem to mind letting their sons alone. He gave one of the peanut butter cups to the kid and started to eat the other. Stiles started babbling between every bite and for the first time in a year and a half, Derek's wolf was calm. He had found it, his wolf's anchor.


	11. Chapter 10: Hormones and other problems

**Chapter 10: Hormones and other problems**

Getting control over his wolf was the best thing that had happened to Derek in a long time. It wasn't always easy; his wolf was too powerful for his age and his parents couldn't find a reason to explain it. He saw Dr. Deaton every 3 months or so to check his progress and make sure he wasn't in danger. The vet's diagnostic was always the same: Derek's wolf was fully developed which made him and his wolf out of sync. With training, he could control his wolf until his body matures enough to match his powers and everything would be normal. But even if his control was not perfect, he finally had his full strength back. He no longer felt weak. Laura was not happy about it though. She had barely started to mature when Derek's powers were already strong enough to match their dad's.

Once Derek was able to control his powers enough, their uncle Jared started to train him and Laura. They ran in the forest and fought either each other or the two of them against their uncle. It took a long time for her to accept the fact that her little brother was stronger than her. But after more than a year of training together, they became extremely close.

She was sixteen now, and Derek knew what that meant. In a few weeks from now, Laura was going to come home and lock herself up in her room. She would refuse to open the door for a day, and then Talia would get tired of waiting and break it down. From what Derek remembered, Laura's boyfriend was going to cheat on her and breakup with her for some other girl. Laura would be heartbroken for a few days, maybe weeks, then she would spread a nasty rumor about her ex and everything would go back to normal.

He'd decided not to say anything, but it didn't mean that he wouldn't feel bad about it. He tried not to think about it but Peter, who was visiting for the weekend, saw right through him. He took Derek for a walk in the preserve; they kept quiet until they were too far to be heard from the house.

"So… spill. What's going on?"

"Nothing… yet."

"Oh. So what's going to happen?"

"Laura's been dating that guy an-"

"Okay, I'm going to stop you right there. Is it going to be a regular teenage heartbreak?" Peter asked, slightly relieved that no one was going to die.

"Yeah… I guess you could call it that."

"Then don't do anything."

Derek stopped walking and stared at his uncle. "It's not that simple!"

"Yes, it is Derek! Teenagers fall in and out of love all the time! Sure you get a little hurt sometimes, but it's life! It's part of the growing up process: you meet someone and think you're going to spend the rest of your life with them, and sure sometimes it's true but most of the time you're just going to get hurt. And then you meet someone else and try again… You should know that, you used to be a teenager right?"

"Yeah well I didn't exactly have any luck as a teenager…" _Euphemism of the century._ "Actually I never really got lucky even after puberty…"

Peter looked down at him with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"I didn't mean it like that you pervert!"

* * *

><p>Derek could not decide if hitting puberty was a good thing or not. Acne was bad, even with werewolf powers. Boners were good, when he was alone…in his room…with no one else in the house… which happened once so far. His voice changing was just plain awkward, the first time it had happened he had refused to talk for a week. But even with all of that, puberty brought something even worse… hormones. His hormones weren't so bad, sure he had to hide a few awkward erections sometimes but being a werewolf, he could at least feel them before it was too late and anticipate. No the worst was other people's hormones. He was fifteen now and for the first time since he got back, his relationship with the kids his "age" were getting more than just awkward but also very disturbing.<p>

He was back in school after being home-schooled since his first transformation. He didn't even have a grade in advance now since his mom decided that being with people his own age would be good for him… In Derek's opinion; she was very very wrong.

The boys were talking about girls, boobs, porn and one time in the locker room he even found himself in the middle of a "who as the biggest dick" conversation and barely managed to escape before they started to measure.

And the girls were so much worse than he remembered. At first he thought that his wolf was projecting some kind of hormones or something, but when he asked Peter, his uncle just laughed at him. He also said that the girls were probably noticing him because he was different than the other teenage boys; quieter, more mature. And when he thought about it, it seemed possible.

The first time he was a teenager, he had been just like those guys. Hell, he even remembered comparing length AND girth with the entire basketball team once. Now he was just dark and brooding… and Stiles had said it was even more attractive, it made him look "mysterious" he'd said. Plus, he used to flirt with every girl in school, now he barely acknowledged them. And everyone knows: people want what they can't have.

_Well see if I care_, Derek thought while walking in the school's main corridor, _I'm going to be so fucking invisible, in a month, no one will remember my n-_

His train of thoughts was brutally interrupted when he bumped into someone.

"Oh god I'm so sorry…" The girl said while she picked up the books she had dropped. Normally Derek would help but he was too busy staring and thinking '_Oh shit'_ over and over again. The girl stood up and smiled at him.

"Hi, I'm … sorry… again. I wasn't looking."

"It's… It's okay I… wasn't looking either."

"I'm Paige by the way."

_I know._


	12. Chapter 11: Communication

**Chapter 11: Communication is the best tool of any relationship**

Barely a few weeks back in high school and Derek was already failing his "Leave Paige Alone" plan. Of course, it hadn't been much of a plan, more like a decision to ignore her existence so that she would hopefully live through high school. But ever since he had bumped into her a few weeks ago, it's like she had attached herself to his side. Every morning, she was waiting for him at his locker, every free period they share she always knew where to find him (he even tried to hide once, she still found him) and even weirder: she ate lunch with him. Even when they had dated she still had eaten alone to study in peace, but now he couldn't seem to shake her off.

Once again, he decided to talk to Peter about it, without telling him about the fact that he had been a little responsible for her death of course. They went to a movie this time, choosing to sit at the back for a random action movie to, at least, have a reason to leave the house that wouldn't be suspicious.

"So basically, the girl you loved in high school and who died tragically in your arms now has a crush on you and that's… bad? Why is that bad?" Peter was always confused during their 'I'm from the future-sort off-it's complicated' talks, this time was no exception.

"Because she died tragically! Don't you get it? I got her killed!" _Why do I even talk to him? I can't tell him the whole story…_

"So don't do that again! There, problem solved. And why are you not dating her again? Aren't you supposed to be in love or something?"

"That was years ago! I don't love her like that anymore, she's a child!" No matter how hard he tried, Derek could not believe he was the same age as the kids in his class. He would probably stay celibate until he was at least back to being 24… and that had nothing to do with Stiles. Nope. Not at all.

"You do realize that not dating anyone, or at least show some sort of interest, until your mid-twenties is going to look weird right? And what the hell is a Stiles?"

_Shit, I said that out loud._

"You were with someone before you came back?"

_I am so NOT talking about that with Peter._ "No."

"Liar."

"Fuck you! I'm not talking about it."

"Why 24 though? That makes no sense…"

"Jesus could you please just… forget about it."

"Are you kidding? You're willing to stay celibate and wait 24 years for this girl, I won't stop until you tell me everything."

"Oh, okay, you want to play that game; how about you tell me what happened between you and Fred?"

Peter's amused face turned sour; he turned away from Derek and stared at the screen. "That's completely different."

"How? You were with her for years, we were all betting that you were going to propose soon, and then suddenly you come home, say it's over and we're supposed to forget about it? We all see how miserable you are Peter."

"It was months ago, I'm fine."

"Now who's lying?"

"I thought we were here to talk about Paige?"

Derek refused to answer. True, they were supposed to talk about Paige, even though it seemed less important than Peter's well-being, but he was not lying when he had said Peter looked miserable. After a few minutes where they both stared at the screen without even trying to understand what was happening in the movie, he finally turned his head back toward Peter.

"Do you have anything better than 'Date her but don't kill her this time'?"

"How about you just tell her you're not interested?"

"Do I have to?" Derek whined, he had hopped Peter was going to say something like 'Just wait a few days, she'll get bored and forget about you.' But obviously that was not happening.

"Yes… And the sooner the better, believe me I know."

Peter was still pretending to watch the screen but his watering eyes betrayed him.

"You really don't want to talk about it?" Derek tried one last time.

Peter dropped his head in his hands and sighed heavily. "I wanted to propose but… I needed her to know first. About us, what we are." He continued after a short silence. "So I told her, and then she told me to leave."

"She didn't believe you?"

"Oh no, she believed me alright, especially after I shifted. She's just… afraid of me."

Derek couldn't find the right words to comfort his uncle. He couldn't even blame Fred, they were freaking werewolves; she's allowed to be afraid. He whispered briefly "I'm sorry.", not knowing what else to say. They watched the end of the movie and drove home in silence, both of them lost in their thoughts.

* * *

><p>Derek thought everything through and, after a few days, he decided to tell Paige he wasn't interested. For a fleeting moment he had thought about dating her again, maybe try to tell her sooner now that he knew she wouldn't mind and find out what might have been. But on his way to school he saw 8-year-old Stiles with Deputy Stilinski, probably on their way to Stiles' school in the police cruiser, and felt his wolf calm down instantly. There was no way he could be with someone else, not now anyway.<p>

Paige was pretty easy to find since she was once again at his locker. She started talking as soon as he arrived next to her.

"Did you hear about Stacy? Oh my god, I can't believe that jerk did that to her. I me-"

"Paige, can we talk?"

"We're talking right now weirdo." She giggled.

"I mean in private." He didn't wait for an answer and dragged her by the arm into an empty room. He was pretty sure it was a teacher's office but at that instant he couldn't care less. He started to talk really fast, trying to remember everything he had prepared on his way to school.

"Listen, I know I never said anything, and I should have, but I need to tell you right now before things get out of hand… I don't like you."

"Excuse me?!" Paige stared him down with rage.

"I didn't mean it like that! I mean, I like you as a friend, I just don't like LIKE you!" _God I sound like Stiles…_

"Oooohh." That sigh of relief was not what he had expected. "Well duuh. Why do you think you have to tell me?"

"Well I… I thought you… liked LIKED me." Derek was definitely not prepared to have the girl he just literally rejected laugh at his face.

"It's okay Derek, I know you're gay. You don't have to pretend with me."


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Derek was sitting at the kitchen table, working on an essay for his history class. He usually worked in his room but history was his least favorite subject and he needed an easy access to comfort food. The Nutella and peanut butter were already halfway gone but he had run out of bread, he was trying to decide between eating them without bread or getting the ice cream when his mother walked in.

"I see you have another history paper to do." She looked tired but she smiled at him affectionately.

"Yep. If I explain to my teacher that I have no intention to do any kind of job related to history ever, do you think I could stop taking that class?"

"Please don't do that, the last parent-teacher meeting was bad enough." She put down her suitcase on the chair next to him and got herself a glass of wine. Derek opened his mouth to ask how her day went when his phone rang to indicate a text.

From Peter: "Guess who I ran into today."

_Cryptic Peter, that doesn't sound good._

To Peter: "The guy you bought your brain from? You should get a refund." He stared back at the two paragraphs he had written and tried to find some motivation to write the last one he needed but he received a new text before his fingers hit the first key.

From Peter: " . No idiot, some kid named Stiles. And guess how old he'll be when you'll be 24? Well I guess you already know that :p"

He put down his phone, not willing to have that conversation over texts… or at all, and prayed for the floor to open up and swallow him. His mother had settled with her own work in front of him and they worked in silence for over half an hour when Derek's phone rang again. He thought about ignoring it but decided otherwise. After all, at least by text he won't have to see Peter's smug face. But this time it wasn't from Peter.

From Paige: "Samuel Johnson, David Hiver, Terry Smith. Marry, kiss or Kill?"

_What?!_

To Paige: "What?!"

This time he was so shocked he was still staring at his phone when the answer came.

From Paige: "Come on Der, I need to know. For science."

To Paige: "I'd kill them all, now leave me alone I still have an entire paragraph to write for Satan."

Once again he put his phone down and tried to get back to work only to be interrupted by another text.

From Paige: "You suck, you won't get any boyfriend w/ an attitude like that."

With a frustrated sigh he turned off his phone and slammed it against the table. Talia looked up from her papers curiously.

"Trouble?" She asked.

"Only Peter and Paige being way too interested in my love life, or lack thereof."

She gave him a motherly smile. "Don't worry Derek, you're 15. You have plenty of time to get a girlfriend."

He hesitated for a few second before whispering: "or a boyfriend." While keeping his eyes fixed on his essay.

"Or a boyfriend." Talia confirmed after a short pause.

* * *

><p>"So… Stiles? I had no idea you were a cradle robber." Peter said the next moment they were alone together, which turned out to be a few days later when Peter came to get him after school, with a smug smile Derek wanted to smash.<p>

"I'm not a cradle robber."

"He's currently 9, I could have said a lot worse."

"Shut up! He doesn't even know I exist… and he won't until he's old enough."

"I'm not sure if this is romantic or creepy."

Peter waited a little, thinking his nephew would start talking without any prompt. Obviously he was wrong, he had no choice but to ask.

"So… what's the story?"

Derek thought about keeping quiet until he realized that Peter was the only person he could talk to about Stiles… and he missed saying his name. He missed everything about him.

"When Stiles was 16, his best friend got bit by a rogue alpha. I… I tried to help them."

"A rogue Alpha? In Beacon Hills?"

"It's a long story, one that hopefully won't repeat itself... Anyway, at first he didn't like me and he was kind of annoying but… we went through a lot. Then after he turned 18 he asked me out and I said yes. We went on a few dates, everything was going great… and I got send back in time. The end."

"That's it?" To say Peter sounded disappointed would be putting it mildly.

"What do you mean 'That's it?'? What else did you expect?"

"I don't know! Some kind of scandalous story about a werewolf and his jailbait? Some Romeo & Juliet action? You're willing to wait 24 years for a guy you just went on a few dates with?!"

"Yes."

Peter let out a frustrated sigh.

"And why are you not at least befriending him now? Obviously you already went from friends to… whatever you were before. Surely you could try that again?"

"No I can't." Derek looked through the window. They were almost back to the house. His uncle waited, obviously wanting Derek to explain why. "His mom… she's going to die in a few years."

"So? Derek you can't save everyone but maybe you could at least be there for him when it happens right?"

"No you don't get it! If we're already friends when she gets sick… What happens when I tell him about werewolves? What happens when he finds out I could have tried to save her but didn't?"

"Is it something the bite could cure?"

"No… at least not completely. It could stop her from dying but her brain would still deteriorate…"

"Then he won't blame y-"

"You don't know that. I can't wait 24 years to truly be with him just to lose him like that… Besides, it's already hard enough to wait when I don't see him a lot, I'm not sure I could take it if we were friends…"

* * *

><p>Derek and Peter found the whole family gathered in the living room when they reached the house. Even Laura was back from UCLA. Talia asked them to sit down before standing in front of her pack.<p>

"In the next few days, some other packs will come to Beacon Hills. I don't want any of you to interact with them. If you see any other wolf in town, you do not approach them. I will take care of the summit, Laura will be my second for the occasion and the rest of you will stay out of it. Have I made myself clear?"


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Derek stared at nothing in particular, the sound of Ave Maria playing in the background. Ever since Talia had told them about the other packs coming, his mind had been plagued with memories of Paige dying in his arms. He knew he should focus on the summit and find a way to prevent Gerard's betrayal of Deucalion, but he only knew the little Peter had found out back then and it wasn't much. When he thought about it, he always ended up with the same conclusion: he couldn't do it on his own. His line of thoughts was going back to Paige's tragic death for the fourth time that day when the music stopped suddenly.

"Could you please stop thinking so loudly? You're distracting me!" Paige said.

"I thought you had a laser-sharp focus?"

"Don't try to change the subject. What's going on? You've been like this for 2 days!"

"Nothing." _Nothing I can talk to you about anyway._

* * *

><p>"We need to talk."<p>

"… Hello to you to dear nephew, I'm fine thanks for asking."

Derek had gone straight to Peter's room after school, he knew he couldn't wait anymore, especially since he had no idea when Gerard would act… or even when he'd come to Beacon Hills, since the Argents were not part of the local hunters they had a pact with.

"It's important Peter, please."

"Fine, but no lame movie this time, I don't think I can take anymore witless action hero winning over a blond bimbo with useless explosions…"

"Fine, we'll go to the park or something." Derek agreed, already walking out of the room without waiting to see if his uncle was following.

"And it better be important!"

* * *

><p>"Fuck."<p>

"And that's all the information I got! I don't know why the Argents came, why one off Ennis' beta killed one off them… And I can't remember when exactly it all happened! Even the events I was part off…"

"But… do you really have to stop it?"

"Of course I have to! People are going to die Peter… And not just because off Gerard, if Deucalion becomes … whatever he was when I met him, dozens of people will die."

"Well, if you want to do something about it, I can only see one way…"

"I was hoping I'd never have to do this…"

* * *

><p>The very next day, the Argents arrived in town. The local hunters where not very happy about it but they decided not to do anything, the Argents were royalty after all. The bad news was that Derek was too late to stop Ennis' beta from killing one of them, apparently it happened before the pack had arrived for the summit, a few towns over Beacon Hills. This time though, the beta was caught and killed without Derek and Peter being chased down in the forest and trapped in the root cellar. Derek could feel the tension between the packs and the Argents all over town, he felt on edge all the time, as if his wolf knew something bad was going to happen.<p>

* * *

><p>The abandoned distillery was bathing in sunlight. Deucalion and a few of his betas faced Gerard and his hunters. They all appeared unarmed but the look in Gerard's eyes was anything but friendly. The older man was walking in circles in front of the alpha.<p>

"I think it's quite fitting that we are meeting in a distillery. You know, the process of distillation is the separating of two substances by pushing them into their different volatile states."

"Volatile is exactly the state I was hoping to avoid." Deucalion answered, keeping his voice as neutral as possible.

"Ooh." Gerard walked towards a red valve. "Then this is going to come as quite a big disappointment!" He said dramatically before rapidly turning the valve. The werewolves took a few steps back and took a defensive pose… but nothing happened. Gerard looked around at the pipes with crazy eyes, he was about to yell something at his men when the cracks of weapons being loaded sounded all-around them. At first, the werewolves thought it was other Argents pointing guns at them but seconds later, a dozen men entered the distillery with their weapons pointed at Gerard and his men.

"What is the meaning of this?" Gerard asked. One of the armed men stepped forward.

"Beacon Hills is our territory Sir, and I don't care what your last name is, here, everyone goes by the code."

* * *

><p>Deaton was cleaning up a bit in the clinic, Talia and Deucalion having just left after they had finished debriefing about the failed meeting with the Argents.<p>

"Everything went well in the end." He said to what appeared to be an empty room. "You know, you could have told me sooner about your… well, your past." Derek kept to the shadows, refusing to talk anymore that he already had to. He did his job, no one else died and, with some luck, the alpha pack will never exist. But he knew he'd need Deaton's help again, and soon. After all, now that the Argents were seriously pissed off, Kate would probably get here in no time.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"I still can't believe it." Paige whispered, more to herself than to Derek who was sitting in front of her.

"I know, it's hard to adapt to the idea." He answered. They were having lunch at their favorite diner.

"Hard?! Derek, it's an entire new world! Our lives will never be the same now!" She kept waving her fork at him with every intonation of her voice before finally eating the fry that had threaten to jump at Derek's face the whole time.

"It's just senior year Paige, not a zombie apocalypse."

"Exactly! SENIOR year! We're finally going to be the best of the best!"

"You do realize being seniors won't change our social status, right?"

"You don't know that! Being a senior is not just about social life!" Paige said before starting a long list of things that would potentially change when they went back to high school a month later. Derek tuned her out; he had been hearing this for weeks and had never managed to make her stop anyway. He was about to suggest they ordered milkshakes again, since his was running low, but froze when a familiar sent reached his nose. Kate. A few minutes later, she walked in the diner; her eyes scanning the room and briefly stopping on their table before she sat on the booth behind Paige.

"Derek? Are you okay?" Paige asked after he failed to react to her ranting about the cheerleading squad.

"Yeah sure. Are you done eating? I think I ate too much, I need to walk it off."

"Oh, okay." She said, Derek did not waste any time and got up before she could change her mind.

* * *

><p>He saw Kate again the very next day. He was playing basketball with some of the few guy-friends he still had in the little court in the middle of the park when she jogged by. He saw her slow down when she got closer to the court and she looked right at him. His gaze followed her and she smiled, probably thinking her plan was working.<p>

Then he saw her again a few hours later when he (reluctantly) went shopping with Cora and a friend of hers. The two preteen girls were giggling about some boy from school while picking out "the perfect" back-to-school outfit and Derek was staying a little behind, making sure his little sister was protected but not smothered. (Not that she would appreciate the gesture; ten-year-old Cora was a real Diva.) Kate arrived not long after them and went straight for the lingerie, right on Derek's field of vision. He could not stop himself from looking at her and, sure enough, Kate met his gaze while holding a red lace bra. This time she even went as far as winking at him. She was coming on way harder than he remembered… then again, the last time she barely had to show up and he had been hooked.

The next day, Derek met Paige at the diner for lunch. They had planned to catch a movie right after but could not agree on which one they were going to see. Derek had almost convinced his best friend that War of the Worlds was a better option than Fantastic 4 (as Stiles had reminded him during one of their dates while rambling about Marvel movies: "anything is better than Fantastic Four… except maybe Green Lantern.") when Kate walked in. This time she didn't pretend to want anything else than Derek; she came right next to him and leaned against their table, her back to Paige.

"Hi." She said seductively.

"Hi … can I help you?" _Stay calm. Don't shift, not here._

"Well I hope so sweetie. You see, I just got into town and I thought maybe you could show me around?" The lie was ridiculous since they both knew she had found her way to the diner, the basketball court and the mall just fine without his help.

"You mean like a date?" He pretended to sound hopeful and he saw Paige shaking with her right hand on her lips to try and stop herself from laughing out loud.

"Exactly like a date babe. What do you say? We could catch a movie if you want."

"I'm sorry Ma'am, my mom says I can't date anyone over 30." Derek replied with a straight face. Paige lost all control and almost fell off of her sit while Kate stared at him with outrage. Since the two friends had finished eating, they got up before the women could think of a comeback and almost ran out of the diner, both of them giggling like school girls.

* * *

><p>A few days later, a very anxious-looking Peter dragged Derek out of the house to have one of their "private time travel related talks". He drove until they reached the edge of the preserve and then stopped.<p>

"Peter, why are you stopping here?"

"I don't have time to waste! Fred is missing!"

"What?" Derek asked. Peter went deathly pale.

"… So it didn't happen in your previous life?"

"In my previous life I didn't even know she existed! What do you mean missing?"

"I went to see her at her apartment and she wasn't there, but the door was unlocked and it looked like there had been a fight. Her neighbor hasn't seen her in days and she hasn't been at work since Monday." A few tears escaped from his eyes but he wiped them away rapidly.

"Did you notice anything special? Like a scent or something?"

"No nothing. Actually, it smelt like bleach… as if someone wanted to cover their scent."

"I'm sorry Peter… I wish I could do something."

"It's my fault." New tears fell but this time he didn't seem to care.

"You don't know that… You two have been broken up for almost two years…"

"They hid their sent Derek! Why would they do that if they didn't know about me?" Derek had no time to answer; Peter left the car and ran in the forest leaving his nephew alone.

* * *

><p>"What's up with you today?" Paige asked. Derek looked up from the milkshake he had been stirring with his straw for five solid minutes without actually drinking any of it.<p>

"Sorry, it's nothing… just family stuff."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"No it's… *sigh* Peter's ex-girlfriend is missing." Derek said, looking down at his drink again.

"Oh my god… I'm so sorry."

"Not your fault. Peter is worried sick but I don't know what to do."

"Be there for him, you can't do much more than that."

After that discussion they were no longer in the mood for hanging out like they had planned. Paige hugged Derek tightly outside the diner before they went their separate ways. She walked back toward her car, while taking her phone in her hand; she wanted to write a message for Derek to cheer him up but could not find the words. She had almost reached the parking lot when she felt like she was being followed. Paige looked over her shoulder and what she saw made her walk faster, she was just about to open her car when something hit the back of her head and everything went black.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Derek's mood was still dark when he reached the house. He found Peter sitting on the couch staring at the wall and sat next to him, putting a comforting hand on his uncle's back. They stayed in that position for a few minutes. Derek took his phone out of his pocket to send a message to Paige but he already had one from her. He must have put it in silence mode and forgot to change it back.

From Paige: "help followed"

Derek immediately shot up.

"What's wrong?" Peter asked.

"Nothing, I got to go." _Please no, not again._

* * *

><p>Derek was about to run back in town but decided he needed something faster, and Peter's car was right there. His uncle never bothered to lock the car up here and Derek knew how to hotwire it… ironically, Peter was the one who had taught him how.<p>

After 3 hours of search, Derek started to lose hope. He had gone back to where Paige's car had been but nothing came of it. The car was still there and Paige was nowhere to be found. He called and texted her but had no answer. He was just driving aimlessly through the city with the widow opened, hoping to catch a sent.

He was about to give up when his phone rang. It was a new message from Paige's phone.

From Paige: "I have something of yours sweetie, come and get it." It was followed by an address in the eastern part of beacon hills; there were a lot of old factories there.

* * *

><p>It was a trap. It wouldn't take a genius to figure that out. Still, Derek was too preoccupied to think clearly. He had called Deaton and told him everything while he drove to the location Kate had given him but even if Deaton had made him promise to wait for back up, Derek was not going to let Paige with this psychopath for one more minute. He got out of the car and climbed up the building from the back. He could hear heart beats; Kate, and two very scared people. Fred and Paige were there, somewhere on the top floor.<p>

He reached the roof and managed to get inside the building easily… too easily. When he found Fred and Paige, they were both sitting on the floor with their hands tied behind them. Paige was the first to see him but instead of showing relief she started to shout through her gag, her eyes wide opened with panic. Derek couldn't hear or smell anyone else; he ran toward her without noticing the trip-wire.

He had been stupid, really stupid. And now he was dangling from the ceiling, his right foot caught in a snare. He was about to cut the rope with his claws when someone ran in and hit him with one of the Argent's werewolf Taser. '_So stupid',_ he thought before being knocked unconscious.

* * *

><p>"Wake up sweetie."<p>

Derek's entire body ached, he tried to open his eyes but his eyelids were too heavy.

"Come on Derek, open those beautiful blue eyes for me."

He recognized Kate's voice but his memories weren't very clear.

_Where am I? What is she doing here; she's supposed to be dead_. He tried to open his eyes again, this time with more success. He was hanging from the ceiling; his arms were tied with wires. Everything came back to him: time travel, Paige, Fred, the trip-wire…

"Fuck…" he whispered. _I'm so stupid, what was I thinking?_

"There you are! For a moment there I thought you were going to die on me."

Kate was walking in small circles in front of him, a Taser in her hand. Derek could see Paige and Fred behind her; they had been tied up just like him. Fred was whimpering, her eyes shut close as if she was praying that all this was a bad dream. Paige looked at him worriedly but even if he could hear her heart pounding in her chest, she showed no sign of fear.

"You know, when I sent you that text, I thought you would run to your mommy. You see, I don't really care about teeny-tiny little betas like you; I want the Alpha." Kate said, her voice becoming angrier with every word.

"Good luck …with that… she's too strong for you." Derek answered even though every breath felt like a thousand tiny blades were puncturing his lungs; his seventeen-year-old body didn't seem to handle electricity as well as he remembered it.

"I know, I wasn't actually thinking she'd trigger the trip-wire, there was a bigger plan just for her… But I guess now, we're going to have to make some adjustments." Kate said while making her way toward Paige. "Tell me Derek, what would you do for her?" She asked sweetly before taking Paige's chin in a tight grasp.

"Leave her alone!"

"Does she know?" Kate asked with fake interest. "Did he tell you that he and his entire family are werewolves?" She asked facing the teenage girl and taking off the gag from Paige's mouth.

"Paig-"

"It's okay Derek... I knew. I've always know." Paige said with confidence… but Derek knew better. He heard her heart beating slightly faster when she said 'I knew'.

"Well that's boring, I was hoping for a little bit more drama than that." Kate turned her Taser on and walked back to Derek but before she could hit him with it, someone barged in and threw her on the ground.

"Is that dramatic enough for you?" Peter asked, completely wolfed out. He growled at her before jumping on top off her. They exchanged hits after hits, Kate managed to weaken Peter with her Taser once but he got away fast and grabbed the hand holding it. He twisted her arm violently, the sound of breaking bones barely audible due to Kate's screams. She fell on her knees, the werewolf still holding her right arm above her head. Peter raised his arm, preparing to strike her throat with his claws.

"Peter stop!" Derek shouted. But before Peter could do anything, a shot sounded and he fell on the floor. Everyone tuned to the door were a frightened deputy was holding his gun, still pointing it were Peter used to be. His hands were shaking. Derek froze, it was Deputy Stilinski. Kate recovered first and got up even though she probably was in agonizing pain.

"Oh my god! Thank you! This… thing was attacking me!" She walked slowly toward John but before she got too close Paige shouted.

"Sir it's her! She's the one who kidnapped us!"

Deputy Stilinski snapped out of his shock and pointed his gun at Kate.

"Freeze!"

"Officer what are you doing? She's in shock; I had nothing to do with this!"

"On your knees and put your hands on your head NOW!" The deputy shouted. He was still trembling with fear and Derek could hear his heart pounding. Suddenly, they could hear the sound of approaching sirens. Kate did as commanded and the deputy slowly walked toward her.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." He began while putting the cuffs on her; he tried not to hurt her broken arm too much. "You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you." By the time he'd finished, police cars had arrived and surrounded the building. He quickly freed the three prisoners but told them to stay until they knew it was safe to go down. He then sighted and turned around to look at the body off the thing he had killed… but it wasn't there anymore. He could have sworn he had shot it right in the chest; there was blood on the floor where it used to be not five minutes before.

* * *

><p>Derek, Paige and Fred were sent to the Beacon Hills hospital. Paige's parents refused to leave her side and had forbidden her from seeing Derek ever again. Derek had heard them argue about it from his hospital room, just like he had heard Paige's mom cry in the hallway when they had arrived.<p>

There was no doubt that Kate would go to jail, Paige, Fred and Derek had all testified against her and Deputy Stilinski had caught her red-handed… At least that's what he wrote in his report. After the event, he had been approached by Talia Hale who had chosen to open his eyes to the truth. He had even met Peter, who he had shot. The deputy was torn between being relieved he hadn't killed an innocent and being scared that what he thought he had seen was actually real.

* * *

><p>After almost 24 hours, John Stilinski could finally go home for more than a quick shower and nap. It was past Stiles' bed time but early enough to find the sitter on the couch watching TV. Chloe, an 18-year-old living across the street, had agreed to stay for as long as necessary. She was used to the deputy's odd hours and Stiles' ADHD.<p>

"Hey kid, he's asleep?"

"Yeah, he spent so much time complaining about not needing a sitter, it wore him out." She joked. "Seriously though, I think he wants to have a talk with you on the subject."

John breathed a heavy sigh. "I guess I should have expected it."

"I'll go and let you rest. Goodnight Mr. Stilinski." She said taking her coat from the hanger.

"Goodnight Chloe and thank you for this." He walked her to the door, giving her the money he owed her before seeing her out. He closed the door and leaned on it, closing his eyes. He knew this would happen. Soon, he would have to leave Stiles alone in the house while he worked, there was no other way.

His son was ten now. Since Claudia's death almost a year ago, John had let others like Chloe take care of him. Not just because he had to work but also because he didn't want Stiles to see how broken he was.

The deputy walked upstairs slowly, stopping in front of Stiles' room. There was a note on it, it read "Dad, we need to talk." and was signed "Stiles, your almost TEENAGE son who you can TRUST".

He opened the door gently and looked inside. His son was sleeping on his stomach, his arms spread and his mouth wide opened. He wished he could be as good at this parenting thing as Claudia had been, she would have done a better job. But how was he supposed to leave Stiles alone and unprotected now that he knew there were creatures such as werewolves in Beacon Hills?


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

It was probably fate or maybe irony, Derek couldn't decide, that Kate's trial happened on the same day she had burned his family alive in another life. Derek, Fred and Paige had testified in front of the jury and a few hours later she was given a 15-year sentence. To Derek, it felt like his new life could really start. Now he would know what would have happened to the 11 members of his family if they had not died that day.

After the trial, he tried to talk to Paige but her mother never left her side. It had been hard not to have his best friend all summer; he hadn't realized how important she was to him until she was no longer there, either to bother him with inappropriate texts or just to talk for hours about something trivial. He had hoped to talk to her during school, but her parents had enrolled her in an all-girl boarding school and Derek had to start senior year without her a few weeks ago. He was starting to wonder if Paige even wanted to talk to him; maybe she was scared of him now, like Fred had been of Peter. Those two were good now though; they weren't dating but at least they tried to be friends. Fred had even visited the house and met everyone.

Everyone - his mother and father, his uncle Jared with his wife and twin daughters Alice and Juliet, his aunt Malory, his cousin Tom and Tom's fiancee April, Peter, Laura and Cora – they were all at the house when they got back from the trial. Just like in his previous life, the whole family gathered for the hunter's Moon.

It was the biggest event of the year for them, even bigger than Christmas or Thanksgiving. Everyone traveled to Beacon Hills for three days of festivities. That day was the second day, the actual day of the full moon. It was late afternoon so the werewolves went out in the forest to hunt venison and bring it back for a huge family dinner. For the first time, Derek was allowed to go hunting with the pack.

Talia, Jared, Malory and Derek went to the east while Damien, Peter, Tom and Laura went south, the hunt was not supposed to be a competition but they all felt their wolf boiling inside of them, wanting to prove their worth. Besides, they all wanted the right to brag during dinner.

They ran in the forest searching for a scent. After a few minutes they heard a howling; Laura had caught something. Not wanting to loose against her, Derek started to run faster when suddenly he found something. It wasn't much, just the faint smell of a deer, but he just had to follow it. He signaled to the rest of his group with a low growl and took off following the scent.

He got closer and closer by the minute; he could already feel the blood in his mouth, the flesh tearing beneath his claws and fangs… He was losing control.

"Derek!" Jared tried to get his attention but it was too late, the teenager was too far gone. Derek kept running, he could smell his alpha getting closer so he changed direction and ran as fast as he could. The deer was close; he could almost see it. He was about to charge when a different scent caught his attention. A scent he knew very well. Stiles.

* * *

><p>After months – <span>literal<span> months – of begging his father to let him stay at home without a babysitter when he had to work a late shift, Stiles was finally free to do exactly the opposite of what he had promised, meaning going out of the house alone. He wasn't in any danger anyway, it was still daylight and the forest wasn't that dangerous… hopefully.

The day before he had found out on the internet that the next day was the Hunter's Moon, supposedly the woods would be full of wild life ready to be hunted. Stiles being who he was needed to check it out to see if it was true. He had arrived half an hour ago and had found nothing. Although, he had spent the first 25 minutes trying to catch his breath after walking all the way from his house to the preserve so he hadn't been searching that much.

Stiles had never really been here before, their house wasn't that far but his mother had never been a huge fan of nature and they never felt the need to explore. Now that he thought about it, it was a pretty stupid idea. He started to think about getting back home when he heard something behind him.

* * *

><p>Derek was almost there, he could hear Stiles' heart pounding in his chest… he was afraid.<p>

* * *

><p>Stiles had convinced himself that nothing was there and he had just imagined it when something growled on his left. He jumped out and tried to find the source while backing up. He saw something move in the bushes so he kept backing up until his back hit a tree. He had no time to react before a huge shape jumped out of the bushes.<p>

* * *

><p>When Derek saw what was happening he let out a furious growl and ran to Stiles. He stayed with his back to the 10-year-old, facing the angry looking mountain lion. It did not take more than flashing golden eyes and a low growl to send the creature back in the forest. He waited a few seconds, his eyes closed while he took several deep breaths until he felt confident that his appearance was 100% human, before he turned around to face Stiles. He no longer looked terrified but he was staring at Derek with awe.<p>

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Derek asked, trying his best not to show any fangs or glowing eyes.

"err … I was… I was just… hanging out…?"

"Hanging out? In the forest?"

"Well 'duh'!" Stiles was getting tired of being treated like a child by everyone. He was going to explain how he was old enough to take care of himself when another man appeared.

"Derek, what the hell?!" Jared asked.

"It's okay; it's just a kid who got lost."

"I did not get lost!" Stiles was really not in the mood for this, he almost got eaten by some beast and now those two jerks were treating him like a fucking toddler.

"Go home; I'll take care of this." Jared said authoritatively to his nephew.

"But-"

"Now, Derek." Jared had no real authority over his nephew but Derek complied, casting one last look at Stiles.

* * *

><p>The guy said his name was Jared. Stiles didn't really care and tried to find a way to escape in case he was a murderer or a pedophile...or both. He failed miserably and found himself in a car back to beacon hills.<p>

"My house is that way." Stiles said when he saw his neighborhood.

"We're not going to your house."

_Oh my god! He is a murderer… I'm dead, I'm soooo dead. _

"Hey calmed down!" Jared quickly added when he realized how much the kid was freaking out. "I'm taking you to the sheriff's station."

"No- I mean, why? I'm fine; I don't need to go to the cops!" _Oh no no no no, this is not happening._

"I'm taking you to your dad."

* * *

><p>A few hours later Stiles cursed Jared in his head. His father was not pleased, to say the least, and now Stiles was not allowed to be on his own EVER. He had to go to the station and stay with his dad every day. John had to beg the Sheriff to give him dispatch duty when Stiles was not in school and he was clearly not happy about it. Now there was no way Stiles could sneak back into the preserve. Not that he wanted to, he really did NOT want to see that jerk Derek again… nope, not at all.<p> 


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

It started with a smell. A week after Kate's trial/day of the fire-that-never-was, Derek realized his mom's scent was off. He couldn't figure out what it was but it seemed like he wasn't the only one who'd noticed. His parents kept exchanging knowing looks and Peter was stealing glances at her with a strange look on his face. Nobody said anything for a few days and then they heard it. Derek was eating breakfast with his parents and Cora on a Saturday morning when he heard it, a new heart beat, faster than most people's heart but not as loud. He looked up at his parents. They were smiling at each other.

"Mom you're…" _pregnant_. He couldn't say it. Just thinking it was blowing his mind.

"What's going on?" Cora asked, confused. Her hearing wasn't good enough for this yet.

"Focus your hearing Cora." Talia answered her youngest. Her daughter did what she was told, closing her eyes to focus, and less than a minute later her eyes snapped back open. She was smiling from ear to ear.

"Oh my god! Mom, this is so cool!" She got up and hugged her mother tightly. Meanwhile, Derek hadn't moved, he stared blankly at his mom's stomach, listening to the heart beat of the unborn child she was carrying.

"Derek, are you alright?" Damien asked. Hearing his name helped the teenager snap out of his trance.

"How far along are you?" He asked with a pensive frown.

"A few weeks."

Everyone was looking at Derek; their smiles had dimmed while they tried to understand why the teenager seemed so confused by the news. When Talia was about to ask him what was wrong, Derek got up and started to leave the room.

"Where are you going?" She asked instead, but he didn't answer and opened the front door. "Derek!" She called after him; she got up and stood on the porch only to see him disappear into the forest.

* * *

><p>Derek had to run. He knew what was coming; he had to get as far away from them as he could before it did. He didn't want them to hear it; it would raise too many questions, so he ran. He stopped when he found the river and let himself fall on a rock almost twice his size. He took a moment to make sure no one had followed him before he let the first sob out. He felt like his chest was going to explode, his eyes were burning and he couldn't stop. He remembered the last time he had cried so hard; when he had found half of Laura's body and realized he was alone in the world.<p>

His mother had been pregnant when the fire happened. There was another person in the house that day. He had killed them to. He knew the fire had not happened, they were safe now, but he couldn't stop thinking about his previous life. Had she known then? Did she know about this tiny life dying with her?

After what seemed like hours but was in fact less than thirty minutes, Derek managed to calm down. He wasn't ready to see his parents though, he was afraid that hearing the heart beat would make him cry again, so he decided to send a quick message to his mom, telling her he was okay, he was happy that he'd have a new sibling and that he was going out for the day. He then started to walk toward the city. A few minutes later Talia answered by telling him to be home for dinner.

* * *

><p>Beacon Hills wasn't a big city but like everywhere else, Saturday meant that the streets were packed with people going from shop to shop. Derek had enjoyed the quiet morning walking around, and then he had eaten at his and Paige's favorite diner. In early afternoon, he was already finding it difficult to walk down Main Street without hitting someone every five seconds. Crowds were definitely not his thing, he was debating going home or not but decided that he might as well go to the movies or something and enjoy himself while he could. He knew he was going to have to answer to a few questions when he got back and he was in no hurry to get yelled at for lying to his mother's face. He couldn't tell her the truth though, so lying he would.<p>

Derek was walking to the theater when he heard Paige's voice. He smiled and rushed toward it but froze when he heard another voice with hers.

"Come on Paige, you know you can trust me."

That voice was Kyle's. Kyle Teller was a douche bag who had been hitting on Paige last year even though she kept telling him to go to hell. With a new determination, Derek ran to where the voices where coming from. He found Paige cornered in front of the antique shop surrounded by Kyle and two of his friends.

"I am not telling you anything Teller, now let me by." Paige sounded exasperated but Derek could tell she was also scared. He stepped forward and placed himself between her and Kyle, hitting the guy on her left with his shoulder on the way.

"You heard her Teller, move out of the way."

"Well if it isn't Derek Hale, just the guy we were talking about." The smirk on Kyle's face reminded Derek of Jackson, which was probably not a good thing for Kyle.

"I said move Teller." He growled in a not so human way. Teller didn't seem to notice but Derek heard Paige gasp in surprise.

"Come on! I'm just asking juicy details about that kidnapping of yours! Nothing ever happens in this town, I need entertainment!"

"In what language do I have to tell you to fuck off for you to understand?" Derek was starting to lose control; this was bad, very very bad.

"Jesus, why are you all so damn secretive? Did something happen while you were tied up?" Kyle asked, his smirk getting meaner. "Do you want me to get a doll so you can show me where the bad men touched you?" He continued before laughing, his friends joining him. It didn't last long though. Derek punched him in the stomach before pushing him to the ground. He then stood over him and kept kicking until one of Kyle's friends dragged him backward. It turned into a three against one fight but Derek was winning. One of them was lying down, the other was still up but holding his face with a lot of blood falling through his fingers and Derek was holding Teller from his collar when cops arrived. Paige had run to find help when it had started and now Derek was put in the back of a cruiser with his hands handcuffed behind his back.

* * *

><p>During the whole ride Derek kept wondering about what his mother would say when she found out about this. Or his father. Or even Peter. Now that he was at the Sheriff's station, the only thing he could do was hope that Deputy Stilinski, who was at the desk when he had arrived and had asked to take care of Derek because he knew his parents, would have forgotten this little episode by the time Stiles turned 18. Maybe there was some kind of spell he could use…<p>

Derek told him the truth; Kyle was harassing Paige, Derek intervened but Teller refused to leave and provoked him by suggesting he had been sexually assaulted during the kidnaping so Derek lost control and hit him. Repeatedly.

Paige, who had followed the car to the station, told them the same thing. Derek's left hand was still handcuffed to the wall, which was probably not a good sign, but they had let Paige sit with him while they waited.

"So… It's been a while." Derek tried to start the conversation.

"I know."

Derek could feel that something was wrong but he hoped it was just his imagination.

"I tried to call but your phone was disconnected."

"Yeah I… I got a new one."

"Could I… get your new number?"

Paige stayed silent.

"Paig-"

"I'm not… I'm not ready for this, sorry. I gotta go." She rushed out, ignoring Derek who was calling after her. He got up to try and follow her, forgetting he was still attached to the wall. He gave up and sat back, knowing that if he broke the handcuffs like he knew he could, he would get in more trouble. Pissing off John Stilinski was NOT on the agenda, ever.

Derek tried to relax, he knew why Paige was freaking out and he knew she'd come around. He knew her. But it still hurt a lot. He must have been more distracted then he thought because he was surprised by a voice right in front of him.

"You want one?" It asked. It was Stiles. And for the first time since he got there, Derek realized that the whole place smelled like him. Apparently Stiles was spending a lot of time at the station, so much so that his scent was stuck in it. The kid was handing him a peanut butter cup.

"Thanks." He took the sweet with his right hand. Stiles sat next to him where Paige had been a minute ago.

"I owed you one." Stiles whispered.

"Since when?"

"That day at the mall… It's okay if you don't remember." Stiles answered, a blush forming on his cheeks.

"I remember, I'm just surprised you do. You were like 4."

"I don't remember all of it… My mom she… she used to tell me about it. She called it 'Stiles' quest for food' and kept telling me about the young knight in shining armor who saved me from starvation with a peanut butter cup." His entire face was now red but he had a fond smile on his lips. They didn't speak for a while until Stiles got curious.

"Your girlfriend looked pissed."

"I don't have a girlf- I mean, she's not my girlfriend." Now Derek was the one blushing, he was a little ashamed that he had wanted to tell Stiles how single he was even though he was just a kid.

"Oh, goo- I mean, okay. Cool. Or not, you know, cool. Whatever." And the blushing was back, this time on both their faces. This conversation needed to stop and soon.

"Derek Simon Hale!" Talia Hale's voice resonated in the station and not long after Derek wished he could go back to his awkward conversation with Stiles.


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

The 26th of December was probably the worst day of the year to go to the mall, yet somehow that's where Derek was. The 17-year-old normally wouldn't be caught dead in the mall, no matter what day of the year it was, but he had a good reason this time.

He wasn't grounded anymore; he could go wherever he wanted. And after four days off everyone asking about college – Where did he apply? Is he going out of state? Does he need someone to help him with his essays? – while Talia stared at him because of course she knew the application files were still piled up on his desk, untouched, he was actually glad to be out of the house.

He never even dared to think about college. He took the SATs thinking he'd get an average score and no one would expect much. He never went to college before; he barely had a GED that Laura had forced him to take. But obviously Fate had a different idea, or maybe he was just underestimating himself, because his score was far from average and a few days after he got the results, his mother gave him a huge pile of application forms for probably every Ivy league and top universities of the whole country.

Derek had never thought about it. He had made plans; plans to save Paige, to help Peter, to stop Kate… He even managed to save Boyd's sister Alicia. His beta had told him a few things about the event, not much but enough. He knew it was going to happen sometime during the Christmas break in 2003 when Boyd was 9 and that it was at the ice skating rink a few miles from Beacon Hills. How Boyd had managed to work in a similar place after such a traumatic event was a mystery, it had taken years for Derek to be able to even look at fire.

So the Winter break right after he met Paige saw him going to the Ice Skating rink (Peter agreed to drive him back and forth since it was for a good cause) and looking for two little children. Obviously Peter had a lot of fun calling him a creeper and the irony was not lost on Derek. It happened on the day before Christmas (and a good thing to because Derek did not want to have to explain why he could not attend the family Christmas dinner as usual) a man had taken Alicia's hand while she was hidden by the crowd and tried to take her away, telling her he was taking her to her parents. They stopped him, took Alicia back and Derek made sure that he had the man's ID before they left him unconscious in a closet. Little Boyd was happy to get his sister back and Derek gave the ID to Talia, told her what happened and waited for the pervert to get arrested. He wasn't arrested though. He was found dead a week later, killed by a "mountain lion" it seemed, far away from Beacon Hills. When they saw the news during dinner, Derek and Talia shared a knowing look and never spoke of it again.

He had so many plans to help people when all of this started, and now only one remained. The very reason why he was at the mall while 75% of the population seemed to have decided to come here and complain about a gift that was not working or to buy batteries they had forgotten or just to return a gift they had not wanted. It was where Camden Lahey was to. Derek had followed him, hoping to find somewhere private to corner him… Two hours later, he was still looking.

Derek finally got what he wanted when Lahey went out to make a call. He followed him outside then Camden walked a few paces away from the door, putting his phone to his ear.

"Hey Isaac, is dad around?" He sounded tired.

"He's passed out on the couch again." Derek heard 10-year-old Isaac's voice answer.

"Oh, okay. Could you ask him to call me when he wakes up?"

Isaac didn't answer.

"Isaac? You're still there?"

"… Yeah." The boy's answer sounded more like a long sigh then an actual word.

"So could you tell him please?"

"When are you coming home?"

Camden closed his eyes and held his breath for a moment.

"I'm not coming… I can't…"

"Camd-"

"I'm sorry."

The 18-year-old ended the call before his brother could say anything else. He closed his eyes for another moment, and then he took a cigarette from the packet he kept in his pockets and lit it.

Derek wanted to do this with subtlety but obviously it was too late for that.

"So you're going to abandon him just like that?" _Fuck subtlety._

"What- Hale? What the fuck dude?" Camden was certainly surprised. He must've remembered Derek from High School; he was just a year older then the werewolf after all.

"You know what's going to happen to him right?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Isaac. Your brother."

"You were eavesdropping Hale?" Lahey was getting angry, Derek knew the guy was a douche since High School but even a deadbeat brother was better than a drunk and violent father.

"Shut up and listen because I will only say it once. Don't ask how I know because I won't tell you but your brother is in danger."

"Wha-"

"I said. Shut. Up. Your father won't stop drinking, you know it, that's why you're leaving. But what do you think is going to happen to your little brother with you gone? I'll tell you what: He'll hit him when he feels like punishing him, for everything; just like he's been doing to you for the last few weeks. Except that he won't stop at punches with him. That old freezer your mother kept badgering your father about? The one that doesn't work and she wanted him to get rid of? He's going to lock Isaac in it for hours, sometimes an entire day when he'll forget him there and drink himself into oblivion. And we both know sweet little Isaac won't fight back. He won't say a word and just take it… He'll probably even believe he deserved it."

Derek had said everything he had to say, the ball was on Camden's court now.

"How do you…?"

"I told you not to ask."

To make sure the idiot believed him no matter how weird it was, Derek flashed bright golden eyes at him long enough for Lahey to blink a few times before turning around to leave.

"But what I am supposed to do?!"Camden called back.

"Protect your brother. Get a job. Get a safe place for him to grow up in." Derek answered while walking away from a very freaked out Camden.

Now Derek just had to wait and see. He had thought about Isaac for a while but this was the only solution he'd found. Any other scenario would have put Isaac in foster care and meant he'd actually had to wait for the abuse to really start to make sure he would never get back in his father's custody. This was probably the best solution, if Camden came through.

* * *

><p>Two days later Derek found out that Lahey had indeed come through, even better than he'd anticipated. He was walking down Main St. when he heard Mrs. Lomny gossip with her neighbor: Howard Lahey was now in police custody after his son Camden found him hitting his brother when he came home on the 26th of December. With the physical evidence as well as both Isaac's and Camden's statements, Mr. Lahey was going to stay in prison for a while.<p>

His last plan was a success, and now he had nothing else to do; no one to save, or evil to stop, nothing. The realization did not bring the feeling of relief he had expected. He kept walking aimlessly down the street, feeling lost. What was he supposed to do during the next eight years before Stiles' 18th birthday?

His thoughts where suddenly interrupted when his shoulder came in contact whit someone else's.

"Jesus Derek! We have to stop meeting like this." A smiling Paige said while looking up at him.

"Hi…" It was the only thing Derek could think of since the last time they had seen each other, Paige had ran away from him. The current smile on her face was extremely confusing. It fell progressively until they were both staring at each other awkwardly.

"I got your gift, for Christmas. It's beautiful thank you." She said showing him the triskelion necklace she was wearing.

"You're welcome."

"Although, I feel like a jerk for not getting you anything every time I see it." She looked away with a small pout on her lips.

"… sorry?" Derek was getting even more confused by her behavior but decided to go with it.

"It's okay; I'll get you more presents next year to make up for it!"

Before long they were back at their favorite diner, Paige chatting like old times while Derek tried to pretend like it wasn't weird.

"So where did you apply?" She asked enthusiastically at the end of a long rant Derek had only pretended to listen to, just like old times.

"What?"

"College. Where did you apply?" She asked again, casually.

"Nowhere." The answer was given quickly and very quietly which didn't stop Paige from spitting out the sip off water she had just taken.

"Excuse you?! What the hell are you waiting for?"

"Nothing, I'm not going."

"Yes you are. You did not score above 2000 at your SATs just to flip burger at McDonalds for the rest of your life!"

"How do you know that?" Derek asked, back to being confused. Paige realized her mistake and went quiet for a moment. She wasn't smiling anymore and looked down at her drink, avoiding Derek's interrogating looks.

"I've been talking to Fred." She finally revealed. "She's been helping me with… well you know."

"She never said…"

"I made her promise not to. I'm sorry; I know I should've talked to you but… I needed someone who understood."

"It's okay. I get it." She looked up and he gave her a small encouraging smile. "So, are we back to being friends now?" Derek asked.

"Only if you promise that you'll apply to at least four colleges of my choice."

"One college."

"Four"

"Two."

"Five."

"This is not how bargaining works Paige." He sighed. "Fine, four college applications. Can we be friends again now?"

"I never stopped being your friend." She said with determination. "Besides, if Fred can get back to having sex with your uncle, being your friend should be a cakewalk." She smirked. This time Derek was the one spitting out his drink.


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Derek was supposed to be packing. His mom had been telling him for days (if not weeks) that he had to get ready to leave, but even now, the day before he was meant to drive up to Stanford with Paige to start their first year of college, packing was the last thing on his mind. Instead he was in Nathan's nursery, sitting on the rocking chair with his baby brother in his arms.

His brother; he never thought he'd ever have one of those. Three months after Nat's birth, Derek was still mesmerized every time he saw him. Everyone had to fight him to hold the kid, even Talia. Sometimes Derek regretted that he had not paid attention to Cora when she was little, he felt bad for being so protective over Nathan when he had avoided his baby sister so long ago. But he was six then, even if not really, and Cora was not as much of a surprise as Nathan had been.

"Derek, quit procrastinating and go pack!" He heard Talia yell from the kitchen, even though yelling wasn't really necessary.

Derek didn't want to leave. He wanted to see Nat' grow up, he wanted to protect him. This was all Paige's fault.

* * *

><p>"Derek, give the baby back to his mother and get. In. The. Car."<p>

It was almost 2 pm on a Saturday and they had been standing there, in front of the Hale House, for fifteen minutes. Clearly Paige was anxious to leave but Derek couldn't bring himself to feel the same way. He had said goodbye to everyone, his parents, Cora, Peter and Fred were all waiting for the whole 'watching the car disappear in the horizon while waiving at it until they can't see it' ritual, but as always Derek refused to let go of his 3-month-old brother.

"It's time to go now Der', I promise we will take good care of your brother. You know, OUR SON." Talia insisted with her eyes flashing a little bit of red. Derek sighed but he did give Nathan back. He took one last look at his family, alive, and at their home, not burned down, before finally getting in the car. Paige's car since Derek had been too busy (read lazy) to get a job and get one for himself.

His best friend started the car and they left, Derek kept looking back until his waiving family (minus Cora who had barely waited for him to close the car door to go back in her room to do whatever teenage girls did locked up in their room) disappear from his sight. Paige waited a few minutes before breaking the silence.

"Stop being so grumpy, we're going to college, not jail." Paige said, her eyes fixed on the road.

"I don't like being far from them." He confessed, watching Beacon Hills pass by through the car window.

"They're your family, I get it. Still, Stanford is not that far."

"They're my pack and it's a five-hour drive." Derek was set on being mopey and whiney; nothing she might say would change that. Especially now that they were reaching Stiles' neighborhood; one more person he won't see in a while.

"Four and a half." Paige shot back.

"Pull over." Derek asked suddenly.

"What?!"

"Pull over now!" He insisted until his best friend complied and parked on the sidewalk. Paige thought the werewolf was going to get out of the car and run back home but he stayed. It looked like he was lost in his thoughts but after a few minutes she realized he was watching something a few houses away from where they were.

"Derek?" She asked cautiously. "Why are you spying on those kids?"

It was Stiles, not that Paige would know who that was. He was in front of his house fooling around on a skateboard… and he wasn't alone. Isaac was with him, his own skateboard in his hand while he watched Stiles and laughed when the spastic kid fell for what looked like the hundredth time.

A few minutes later, Deputy Stilinski got out of the house. Derek opened the car window on his side, not a lot but enough to hear what was being said.

"Alright boys, I have to get to work. DON'T leave the house; don't talk to strangers and d-"

"Don't burn the house down, we know Dad." Stiles finished for him.

"Good. Camden should be here for dinner, he'll bring you back something to eat. Isaac, I'll see you Monday after school right?"

"Yeah, Cam' said he'll have the late shift for the whole week." Isaac answered; he seemed a little shy but not as much as Derek remembered him.

"Let's go." The werewolf said, closing his window back. Paige, who was not able to hear anything and still had no idea what that had been all about, started the car and kept quiet until they reached the "Leaving Beacon Hills, Come again soon" sign.

"Sooooo… that was weird." She said.

"I don't want to talk about it." Derek answered harshly. Paige didn't answer and an uneasy silence settled in the car. The uncomfortable silence was driving Derek mad so he turned to his friend and casually asked her if she had decided on a major yet, knowing that Paige was still very much undecided and would probably talk nonstop about all the different majors she was thinking of doing and all the classes she was going to take; which is exactly what she did for the first hour of their road trip.


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

"College sucks." Paige said, sitting next to Derek on the steps of one of the English Department buildings.

"I guess I don't need to ask you how were your classes this morning." He promptly answered before continuing to shove food in his mouth at an alarming speed. He only had 25 minutes between his class on The Grotesque in Literature and his WWI Literature class on Mondays and Wednesdays. Paige had already declared her Math major and her minor in Education. She'd also decided to take as many courses as she thought was possible without thinking of the time she would need to study, or do her homework or even just eat and sleep.

Now a month after their arrival at Stanford, they had worked a schedule of when and where they could meet between classes, on Mondays and Wednesdays Paige joined Derek for a quick lunch not far from his next class, on Tuesdays and Thursdays they had breakfast together at one of the many Cafes on campus.

"So how was your class? Anything on werewolves yet?" Paige asked.

"I told you, there are no mentions of werewolves in the syllabus."

"Well that's boring. I thought something called 'The Grotesque: Aesthetics of the Bizarre and Unnatural' would cover shape-shifters."

"I'd rather not. Anyway, we're studying Nietzsche, _The Birth of Tragedy_. And yes, it is as boring as it sounds."

"Can't be worse than three hours of calculus where a disgusting douchebag kept staring at my boobs while the guy I actually have a crush on ignored me." She said, sighing deeply while staring at her untouched sandwich.

"You know, maybe he just wanted to pay attention to the class… he is the TA after all."

* * *

><p><em>3 years later<em>

_'Let's go to a party!' She said. 'It will be fun!' She Said. _Derek's idea of fun was definitely not the same as Paige's. He hadn't even seen his best friend for half an hour, not since they had arrived and she had run into her ex-TA/current boyfriend's arms. He didn't mind it(much), Derek knew she didn't have many opportunities to see her boyfriend, while she saw her best friend every day. They had been roommates since sophomore year; the decision was made after Derek had to sleep in her dorm for two days to avoid maiming the jerk he had been sharing a dorm with.

Living in a small apartment on campus with Paige was great, even when the TA boyfriend spent the night (Paige offered him noise-cancelling headphones one Christmas). Not so great when she decided to drag him to a frat party.

The music was way too loud, even for human ears. The house was full of people chatting, drinking, dancing and sometimes shouting for no reason. There was no theme but it had not stopped some of the girls to dress with the bare minimum of fabric, if that. Derek had stopped counting the number of people who had tried to start a conversation with him after 10 minutes and when some dudebro tried to make him do a keg stand, Derek decided to flee in the kitchen, where there was less people.

Three years of college and he was still uncomfortable among other college students. Paige berated him often for his lack of social skills; she even tried on multiple occasions to hook him up with some of the friends she'd made. And even though he would not deny missing sex, he never felt like dating or even making friends. He had a few though, mostly people from his classes. Students in the English department were not very competitive and usually maintained a healthy companionship with each other. But none of them were at the party it seemed.

"Not a fan of keg stands?" A playful voice asked behind him. When he turned around, Derek found it belonged to a young men, maybe a freshmen or sophomore, with pale skin, a few moles that were not quite where he wished they were, gelled up brown air that were a shade or two too dark and green eyes. He was wearing tight jeans and a V-neck green t-shirt that were showing off his lean muscles. He was also carrying two red cups, one of which he handed to Derek.

"No, not really." Derek answered with not a hint of flirting, just to make a point, yet still accepting the beer, their hands briefly touching.

"Yeah me neither, I've been watching those idiots for 15 minutes and I'm surprised most of them can still walk. I'm Jake by the way."

The werewolf hesitated for a second. The party was boring and he had promised to stay for at least an hour, and Paige would know if he left early, she had spies. Besides, people were supposed to have fun in college; maybe he should try to have some fun.

"Derek."

* * *

><p>When Paige got home the next morning she found Derek lying on the couch, freshly showered and dressed in comfortable clothes. She was going to whine about his hair dripping water on the armrest but she saw that he had his "I hate the world" face, even though it was hard to notice the difference with his normal face, especially with his new found love for facial hair.<p>

"Hey Der'. What's up?" She asked, whispering softly, kneeling on the floor next to his head and passing her hand through his hair in a soothing motion.

"I… I was with someone last night." His voice sounded hoarse and tired.

"Yeah, I heard you left with Jake. What happened? Did he hurt you?"

Derek's response was to turn his head toward her and glaring at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh come on, you know what I mean. You look like shit."

"Thanks." He said sarcastically, staring back at the ceiling.

"So?"

"I had sex with him." He admitted, his cheeks blushing slightly.

"I figured as much. And? How did it go?"

"It was okay I guess, I just…" _feel bad that I imagined it was Stiles the whole time and now that it's done, I feel like I betrayed him which is stupid because he barely even knows I exist anyway. But I can't tell you that._

"What is it? You can tell me, I won't judge, I promise."

"It was meaningless. I don't… It felt good but I don't think I liked it."

"It's okay Der', some people don't like to have sex with people when they don't have feelings for them. It's not a bad thing to be a romantic guy." She told him with a smile before leaning forward to give him a loving hug.

"Now all we need to do is find you a boyfriend." She added enthusiastically.

_Oh hell no._


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

A few days after Derek had moved back in Beacon Hills, Laura came to see him while he was reading in his room.

"Hey little bro', do you have a minute?" She seemed calm but Derek could sense that he was not going to like whatever she wanted to tell him. He told her to come in and she sat next to him on the bed.

"Mom wanted me to bring you up to speed before the pack meeting tomorrow."

Derek looked up and stared at his sister with anger.

"What do you mean by 'up to speed'?"

"Well… When you were in college, a few things happened that… Well, mom decided it would be better if… you didn't know about them." She answered calmly.

"Why the hell not?"

Laura straightened herself and stared down at her brother with an aura of authority that was quite new for her.

"Because she was afraid that you would drop out and, obviously, that was not needed."

"Just tell me already." Derek mumbled, looking down at his hands.

She started by telling him of a few events that had happened but were dealt with, some Omegas forming a pack without an Alpha and attacking Talia to steal her power, a few hunters attacking Laura and Damien in the forest and other things that Derek had never heard about. Then she fell silent for a moment before continuing.

"Ennis and his pack have gone rogue. They started attacking other packs a few weeks ago. So far there hasn't been many casualties and they've been staying north, the last time we got news they were in Seattle. Deucalion's pack is helping us dealing with it but for now we're just observing and waiting."

Her statement was followed by a few minutes of silence, Derek tried to process the information but all he could think about was that it was his fault, again.

"What about Kali?"

"We haven't heard from her since it started."

He wondered for a moment if Kali had joined Ennis like she had when he'd joined the Alpha pack. He never thought Ennis would go that far on his own, even if the Alpha was quite violent he was no evil mastermind.

"There's more. The hunters are leaving Beacon Hills."

"What? What about the pact?"

"The pact is over. Kirston had no choice, his men were getting agitated. There hasn't been a lot of activity here in a long time; most of them became hunters to kill werewolves, I guess they got tired of waiting for us to fuck up. We're not sure but Peter seems to think that they heard about Ennis and they're going after his pack."

"Then we're back to a hunter free town, it's not so bad." Derek reflected out loud.

"Actually… I was going to wait for the pack meeting but… Chris and Victoria Argent are moving into town with their daughter next week. My contact at the real-estate told me that they are renting a house in that expensive suburban neighborhood."

"Why are they coming here?"

"No one knows."

* * *

><p>A few months later<p>

The diner was gone; Paige's and Derek's favorite diner was now a trendy coffee shop full off hipsters and teenagers. It didn't stop them from going back almost every week like they used to, Paige even admitted she liked it better that way.

They were sitting at a table in the back of the coffee shop where they had been talking about the weather for a few minutes followed by a small quiet moment where they each took a few sip of their drinks while looking for a new subject of conversation.

"So, how's the job hunt going?" Paige asked with just the hint of a smirk on her lips.

"Not you to! Have you been talking to my mother again? I told you to stop doing that." Derek said, letting his head fall on the table into his folded arms.

"She's just concerned; you need to stop being such a Drama Queen."

He looked up at her before answering.

"I'm not. I have other things on my mind that's all."

"Honey, we've been back for month now. It's time to move on."

With that tone of voice it wasn't difficult for Derek to understand that even Paige thought he was pathetic but admitting the truth would be worse. The problem was not that he didn't want to get a job, but that he had no idea how to get one… or even where. He had a degree in English Literature but, besides teaching, he had no idea what to do with it. And even though working with Paige, who was now a math teacher at BHHS – of all places – seemed like a fun idea, he was not a very good teacher. That had been long established during the few months where he had tried to be an Alpha and failed, miserably.

"It doesn't have to be the greatest job available; you just need something full time where you will earn a steady income. And if you do, then maybe we could go back to being roommates!"

"I like living with my family, I get to spend time with Nathan."

It was only half of a lie; he did like to spend time with his little brother. Nathan was like a joyful mini Derek; he liked books, especially when Derek read them to him using silly voices like he used to do over the phone when he was in college and they both shared a deep hatred for apple juice. But Derek could not deny, at least to himself, that living with his parents was becoming a problem… an annoying, nagging, pestering problem.

Paige got up to get another coffee, leaving Derek alone. He kept thinking about his last conversation with his mother, right before she left for work that morning while Derek was having breakfast in pajamas in front of the TV. He could still hear her growly voice when she lost her patience and ordered him to shower, get dressed, get out of the house and look for a job. He was still internally whining about it when Paige came back with a Latte, a piece of paper and a huge grin on her face. She put the paper in front of him without a word. It was an application for a barista position at the "Rise 'n Shine" coffee shop.

* * *

><p>Working as a barista was awful and Derek never lost an opportunity to complain about it. Especially on days like this when a mass of people came through thinking they had time to get a coffee before getting to work and when they inevitably realized that the wait was going to make them late, instead of giving up and going to work like responsible adults, they stay, complain and, when they finally get to Derek at the counter, they order some very complicated and way too sophisticated concoction and leave with it without a thank you or a smile and, more importantly, without leaving a tip.<p>

And obviously Derek had to endure it with a big fake smile on his face while staying polite. When they were all gone, the werewolf took a minute to sit down behind the counter to rest. Not that he needed it but after two weeks of working full-time he knew that, supernatural creature or not, if he stayed on his feet all day he would regret it. The doorbell rang indicating a new customer so Derek got back up expecting another late business man only to see Stiles approaching the counter.

Derek had not seen him since the day he left for Stanford, back then Stiles still looked like a child version of the person he knew. Now though, he looked almost exactly like he had when they had met. A few months or maybe a year younger but still a gangly teenager with a buzz cut, big amber eyes, a graphic t-shirt, a plaid shirt and a hoodie. It was like seeing a ghost. Thankfully Stiles didn't realize Derek's silence; actually he hadn't even noticed Derek, too busy reading the long list of coffees available.

"Welcome to Rise 'n Shine, what can I get you?" Derek said, just like Lucy, the owner, had trained him to. He had a big smile on his face but this time he wasn't faking it.

Stiles' eyes stayed glued to the board behind the counter when he started to answer.

"Hi, I'll have a tall latte with caramel pl…please…" The teenager had finally looked Derek's way before finishing his sentence, said 'please' in a whisper and was now staring at the barista with his mouth slightly opened.

"Coming right up!" Derek said before starting to make the drink. He usually complained a lot that there was no one to help him during rush hour on Mondays, Lucy had not anticipated the popularity of her coffee shop in Beacon Hills and was having trouble finding baristas willing to work the mornings during the week, but this time Derek was glad that he had Stiles to himself. He was also very glad that no one would see him fawn over a 15-year-old.

"Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Uh … I… I don't have class until 10." Stiles answered, Derek heard his heart beating faster indicating that he was lying.

"Sure." Derek said with a smirk while he was finishing the drink. "Here, on the house." He handed the latte to a surprised looking Stiles.

"Oh really? Awesome! Thanks dude."

"Don't call me dude."

* * *

><p>Stiles left the coffee shop with a huge smile on his face. Derek Oh-My-God-When-Did-He-Get-So-Hot Hale had given him free coffee. A free coffee with "Get to class Stiles!" scrawled on the cup followed by a winking smiley face.<p> 


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Saturday was Stiles' favorite day of the week. Usually because he used to sleep until noon and then play video games for the rest of the day, but since he had found out about the coffee shop and it's hot barista, Saturday had become 'Derek ogling Day'. At least it was supposed to be until his best friends walked in.

Stiles was already at his favorite table, the table with the best angle to watch McHottie without being too obvious, he had a delicious Mocha Latte and his chemistry homework, ready to spend a few hours in his little sanctuary when Scott and Isaac suddenly appeared in front of him-blocking his view of the Hottest Hale, _rude_- and stared at him for no reason.

"Dude, what the hell? You were supposed to meet us at the arcade like 2 hours ago! Why were you not answering your phone?" Scott said angrily, his breath wheezing a little.

Okay, so maybe they had a reason. Still, rude.

"Oh shit, sorry guys I thought you meant tomorrow." Stiles apologized.

"Why would we go to the arcade on Sunday, Stilinski? Aren't you supposed to be smart?" Isaac asked, looking genuinely confused.

"And aren't you supposed to not be annoying? Oh wait, you always are."

"At least I don-"

"Guys! Seriou*wheezing*sly, stop *wheezing* fighting!" Scott interrupted, his breathing getting worse. Stiles got up from his sit to stand next to him.

"Scotty, do you have your inhaler." He asked calmly. Scott did not answer but took his backpack off and looked in the front pocket. Thankfully it was there and his breathing got back to normal.

The three friends all sat down, Stiles still in perfect position to look at Derek -who was talking to a small kid, probably 5 or 6, sitting with him behind the counter- Scott and Isaac sitting in front of him. It wasn't the first time that Derek had brought the child with him to work and Stiles had been worried that he might be Derek's son (not that Derek would not make a great DILF but Stiles was not ready for that kind of commitment… not that he thought he had a chance with him but one can always dream right?) but after a short investigation (he asked Derek) it turned out he was just Derek's little brother.

"So we called your Dad, 'cause we thought you had been kidnapped or something you know." Scott said accusingly. "And he told us that you've been here every Saturday for months… That's weird since you never told us about it."

"That's because there's nothing to talk about! I just like to come here to do my homework, what's so weird about that?"

"Oh, so it has nothing to do with the barista you've been stealing glances at every five minutes since you got here?" Isaac asked, smirking.

"Seriously? You guys spied on me for half an hour before coming in?" Stiles was outraged, well more like embarrassed and really questioning his taste in friends.

"Well I did, while waiting for Scott who was calling Allison and yes, you looked pathetic."

"Shut up Isaac."

* * *

><p>"Der' you're not listening again!" Nathan's voice startled the barista as he was eavesdropping on Stiles, Isaac and Scott… again.<p>

"I am listening, you said something about… Laura?"

Rush hour was over and Cindy, the other barista, was taking care of the few customers coming so Derek was sitting next to his little brother. Lucy had agreed to let him take Nat' to work and even put two bar stools behind the counter on the unused left side of said counter for him.

"Cora! She said I can't be a wolf like mommy but I wanna be a wolf, can I be a wolf Der'?"

"Maybe one day buddy but you know we're not supposed to talk about that here."

"Sorry."

Nathan was a bad liar. In any circumstances that would be a good thing, except for the whole top secret werewolf family thing. Usually kids were taught at a young age about what they could or could not talk about in public but Nat' seemed to have trouble with the concept of lying. Since he was home-schooled Derek suggested that Nathan come with him to work sometimes to train him in a noisy environment where people wouldn't pay attention to the rambling of a 5-year-old. So far it wasn't working.

After a few minutes he went back to work, taking Cindy's place at the register. The next hour flew by and Stiles was still here with Isaac and Scott. They seemed to have moved on from the subject of Stiles stalking him and were talking about school. About that new hot math teacher they had and who had just walked in.

"Hey Paige, I thought you were going to stay home all day praying for those copies to mark themselves?"

"I tried, then that plan failed so I was going to do it myself but it turns out that we're out of coffee." She replied, staring at him with an accusatory look.

Derek tried to look as innocent as possible. He may have drunk the whole last pot of coffee before leaving that morning. He had to; it takes a lot of coffee to wake up a werewolf.

"So, what can I get you?"

"Double espresso with a side of arsenic, god I hate grading papers."

"Isn't that like 50% of your job?"

"Don't remind me… Anyway, don't forget to get the groceries for dinner tomorrow night."

"What dinner?"

"Come on Derek! Dinner? With your parents? They're coming tomorrow to check out the new apartment we live in? Ringing any bells?" Paige was getting more and more irritated; if he didn't know better (and sadly his sense of smell would let him know better) he would think that she was PMSing.

"Oooh right, yeah. Dinner. Tomorrow. Parents. I remember." _I totally did not remember._

"Whatever. When do you get off?"

"In two hours but I've got to wait for Laura to come pick Nat' up so… Who knows, I could be here all night. I'll get the groceries, don't worry. Here, on the house. Sorry about the coffee, I'll get some with the dinner supplies." He gave her the drink she ordered (sans arsenic) and leaned on top of the counter to kiss her cheek, hoping it would be enough to get her forgiveness for depriving her of the fuel of her life.

"Thanks." She answered with a smile finally reaching her lips. "See you at home!"

Derek smiled and rolled his eyes at his best friend's antics before he focused on the next customer; a very confused looking Stiles.

"Hey, more Mocha Latte or do you want something else this time?"

Before Stiles could answer, another voice sounded loud and clear.

"Derek, look! I drew mommy in her wolfy form, with her red eyes and everything!"

* * *

><p>He had a girlfriend. Hot Barista was dating cute math teacher. Of course he was. It was the Jackson debacle all over again. Except that Lydia had never shown any kind of interest for Stiles, she barely acknowledged his existence… but Derek had. Stiles wasn't crazy, he knew Derek had been flirting with him every fucking Saturday. He never smiled that way for the other customers, just Stiles. So what the hell was going on between Derek and Miss Krasikeva?<p>

And what did the kid mean with 'wolfy form'?


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

"That's enough Mr. Stilinski! I will see you in detention tonight and I don't want to hear another word from you!"

Stiles kept looking at Miss Krasikeva with indifference. Fine, another detention, whatever, it was only the third time since he had found out about her and HIS hot barista. She was not good enough for Derek, too bossy. She probably made him do all the chores while she complained about how "hard" she worked. _Please_, teaching math to high school freshmen and sophomores was not complicated; Stiles could do those problems in his sleep. He had a plan, 3 to 6 months depending on her resistance. He was going to make her hate her job so bad that she eventually would have to quit and move far far away. He wouldn't go too far, he had no intention of causing a mental breakdown, just enough to get a detention every time. She'll get tired of it, she'll become even more annoying and Derek will see that she wasn't made for him. It was a perfect plan.

* * *

><p>Stiles couldn't wait to finally get his driver's license. Having to walk home after school was annoying but doing it in the dark was worse. Miss Krasikeva had been extra pissed during detention and, in Stiles' opinion, abused her powers by making him clean up every bathroom in the school. The janitor was thrilled.<p>

Winter was almost over but it still got dark early and now Stiles was walking home with that annoying feeling that he was being followed. He always got that feeling when walking around after dark but this time was different. He could have sworn that he had heard someone walking behind him.

He was going crazy that was it. It's not like it was really that dark, the full moon was shining behind him allowing him to see almost as well as he would in the day. Another side effect of his sleep deprivation, he was becoming paranoid. That's what he was thinking when a strong harm was wrapped around his waist and a large hand covered his mouth.

* * *

><p>So, werewolves did exist after all. The research he had done after hearing Derek's kid brother talk about 'wolfy forms' and 'red eyes' were not as stupid as he had thought. Not that he had needed Google to know that someone who could turn into a wolf with red eyes could only be a supernatural creature commonly known as a Werewolf, but he had to admit that he'd been skeptical. Meaning he had refused to believe it and thought the kid just had a huge imagination. It made sense now though, when he looked at the big guy who had kidnaped him and tied him up to a chair in the middle of a deserted industrial building; which was such a huge cliché he almost said so until the guy's face transformed and his eyes turned bright red.<p>

The kidnapper hadn't said a word yet; he was standing in front of Stiles, his massive arms crossed on his chest and his threatening red eyes staring down at the teenager. Stiles wanted to talk, he wanted to say something, anything, but he knew if he annoyed this guy, he won't just get detention and he had no intention of getting intimate with the guy's claws and fangs. But seriously, the silent staring was getting awkward.

"Ennis!" A voice called out. The man finally looked away from Stiles and toward the door. A woman walked in. She was beautiful but something was making the teenager uncomfortable, she was dangerous; he could feel it. Or maybe it was just the fact that she was barefoot and her toes had claws. _Do all werewolves have claws for toenails?_ _It seems rather impractical._

"Who's that?" The barefoot woman asked.

"Hale's pet." Ennis said, pronouncing Derek's name as if it had been an insult. He was back at staring at the teenager.

"Which Hale?" The woman sounded confident, she seemed completely unconcerned for Stiles' well-being. Obviously she wasn't here to help him but Stiles had hoped she would protest at the idea of harming a 15 year-old.

"Derek. I saw them together."

"You're sure? He looks a little young."

"I know what I saw Kali." Ennis answered with a growl. The woman sighed.

"So what's the plan?"

"He said if I took him the brat would come running like an idiot. Then we can use them both to get to Talia."

* * *

><p>Two hours after the woman had come by, Stiles was still tied to a chair in an abandoned building. He had managed to keep his mouth shut no matter how much he wanted to ask questions. So many questions; who were they? What did they want with Derek? Was Derek a werewolf? Could he please get up and walk a bit? His butt was seriously not made to sit on a wooden chair for so long.<p>

The two scary werewolves had left, leaving him with five other scary werewolves. They all looked young, the youngest did not look a day older than Stiles and the oldest, the only woman in the group, couldn't be more than 30. Stiles wasn't even sure that she was a werewolf, unlike the others, she had no fangs or claws or glowing eyes.

A few hours later, Stiles was getting bored. He tried to talk to them; He asked the woman for something to drink. She seemed nice and brought a small bottle of water to him, she also helped him drink since both his arms were tied up to the chair. He asked them how they became werewolves but no one answered. He asked them every question he could think of about werewolves but they stayed silent, except for one of them who started to growl every time Stiles opened his mouth. It didn't stop Stiles from talking.

"Can I-"

"I swear to god if you don't shut up I'm going to claw your fucking eyes out of your skull!" The grumpy werewolf finally snapped.

"Dude; I was just asking if I could go take a piss."

" ." The guy's forehead started to shift.

"No seriously, it's all that water from earlier; I really need to pee."

The pissed off guy growled, his face looking more like a wolf than a man. He marched toward Stiles but the woman put herself between them.

"Gareth, take Kyle outside." She said to another member of the group authoritatively.

"You're not my Alpha, witch." Kyle growled, approaching until he was barely a few inches from her face. Stiles thought the woman would get herself killed when suddenly the werewolf was pushed in the air by an invisible force coming from her. She turned to the one she had called Gareth.

"Take him back to the house." She said. Gareth obeyed and Stiles was left with the woman, the teen wolf and another young werewolf who had stayed behind the whole time, sitting against the wall with his phone in his hand. He waited five minutes before opening his mouth again.

"I still need to pee."

The woman turned toward him, sighing. She was about to say something when both young werewolves turned their head toward the door.

"What is it?" She asked. But before they could answer, the door all but exploded and Derek ran in, his face completely wolfed out. He stopped a few feet away from them; the two werewolves were now standing between the Hale and Stiles.

"Derek it's a trap!" Stiles yelled. It didn't have the expected effect on the Hale, who looked him in the eyes and smirked.

"Don't worry Stiles, I'm not alone." As soon as he finished his sentence, dozens of men and women walked in, two off them, a man and a woman, had bright red eyes.

* * *

><p>Stiles was freed soon after, the woman and the two young werewolves who were guarding him were taken prisoner. When Derek walked him out of the building to get to one of the cars, Stiles saw the body of Gareth and Kyle. He stayed silent for a while after that.<p>

The woman who had red eyes and who must have been Derek's mother stopped them. She dragged her son by the arm to talk to him privately. They were obviously arguing about Stiles but the teenager couldn't hear them. She kept looking his way with a disapproving look. When Derek came back toward Stiles he looked extremely irritated.

Derek drove him to his house, his father wouldn't be home for two hours, he had been working the whole time and had no idea his son had been missing.

"How did you know I'd been kidnapped?" Stiles whispered as they were still sitting in the car outside of his house.

"Paige."

"Who?"

"Your math teacher; she saw you get taken."

"And she called you instead of the cops?" Stiles couldn't decide if it was a good thing or not, could cops save him from werewolves?

"She saw their eyes glowing. She's my best friend so she knows about…" Derek stopped himself. This night must have been awful for Stiles and now he knew, he saw.

"Werewolves." Stiles finished Derek's sentence.

"Yeah. That."

"So you're a werewolf?"

"Yep."

"And your family…?"

"Werewolves."

"Cool. Great. Awesome. I'm gonna… go, to bed… It's been a long night." Stiles didn't wait for an answer and left the car, he needed time to process… and do some research, all the research. Before he opened the front door he heard Derek call him back, he turned around and saw the werewolf jogging his way.

"Here" Derek said, handing a piece of paper to Stiles. "Call me if you have any questions."

Stiles managed to whisper "Thanks" while screaming 'DEREK GAVE ME HIS NUMBER!' over and over in his head.

"And don't worry; they won't come after you again." Derek said reassuringly before going back to the car.

Stiles waited for him to leave before he got in the house. He went straight to the bathroom, his need to pee coming back with a vengeance, and then he went up in his room and laid down on his bed to think. He replayed everything in his head, pinching himself several times just in case. He was on the edge of sleep when something in particular came back to him. Derek said 'She's my best friend'. Not 'girlfriend', 'best friend'. He'd been a brat and got three detentions for nothing. She's not Derek's girlfriend.

It occurred to him the next morning that this information was nothing compared to the existence of fucking werewolves but it didn't stop him from being relieved. Still, he decided to forget about Paige Krasikeva for now and focused on his computer screen. He needed to know more. He wanted to know everything.


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

When Derek got to his parent's house after driving Stiles home, both his pack and Deucalion's were there. It had been a weird night. They had just found out about Ennis arriving in Beacon Hills when Paige called him in panic because one of her students had been taken by a werewolf right before her eyes. At first he thought the Alpha was taking people to join his pack, like he had been doing since he went rogue, but then Paige said the kid was the Sheriff's son and Derek freaked out.

He went to his childhood home and told his mother about it but she didn't react as he had hoped. She thought it was too late, the kid had probably been bitten already and there was no way of finding him. Derek protested, he yelled at his own Alpha to convince her that they had to save him. Then Deucalion finally arrived with his pack, they had been waiting for them since they got word of Ennis' movement toward Beacon Hills.

Deucalion was a lot easier to convince than Talia and Derek's Alpha agreed even though she was not very optimistic. Finding Stiles was not easy but Derek knew his scent well enough to follow the trail, something that earned him a few weird looks from his pack.

They found the building but stayed away and made sure that the wind would hide their scent. They could hear the teenager asking 1001 questions to his captors until one off them snapped. Derek was about to suggest they attack when two of the betas in the building were ordered to leave. The plan was to send someone to follow them and find out where they were staying, but the two betas heard or smelled them approaching and tried to alert the werewolves still in the building. Derek was certain that his companions would have no problem taking care of them so he went straight for the door.

Inside he found Stiles tied to a chair, a human woman and two young betas. Stiles smelled terrified and his heart was beating too fast. He warned Derek that it was a trap but there was no way those three could beat two powerful packs on their own and they had made sure no one else was around.

Stiles was freed and Derek tried to take him to a car immediately knowing that Talia would want to interrogate him. He was right and his Alpha stopped him before he got to the car. She dragged him away and started to demand answers. It took him a lot of yelling and promises to make her agree that Stiles was too shocked right then to answer any questions and surrounding him with werewolves would have probably scared him.

Now Stiles was safe in his home, probably freaking out about the existence of werewolves, and Derek was surrounded. He walked through the house until he found his mother. She was in her office with Deucalion, Laura, their dad, Peter, Deaton, Morell and some people Derek didn't know from Deucalion's pack.

"Talk." Talia ordered. That had been one off his promises; he had to explain a few things. He saw Peter and Deaton looking at him, they were both wondering if he was going to tell the whole story. Should he tell the whole story?

"What do you want me to say?"

"The truth would be nice. How do you know that boy?"

"He's a regular at the coffee shop. He comes every Saturday; I think he has a crush on me." Derek said truthfully. He couldn't lie well enough without a bit of truth.

"I don't see how that would be enough for Ennis to use him as bait." She did not believe him.

"Ennis is an idiot, he probably saw us talk at the shop and thought we were friends."

"And you want me to believe that you're not? STOP lying to me Derek!"

"I'm not lying!" Derek shouted, stepping forward towards his mother. Before he could reach her, his uncle Peter grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Derek maybe you should tell her about…"

"Tell me about what?"

Derek stared at his uncle quietly, and then he raised his head and looked in his mother eyes. Should he? Finally he looked at Deaton; the emissary gave him a reassuring look and nodded. Derek looked back at his mother with determination.

"I'll tell you everything. But just to you and dad."

* * *

><p>Derek went to the panic room with his parents, the only place he was sure no one would hear them from outside, and he told them everything. Everything he told Peter and Deaton and everything he didn't tell them; from Paige's death to the day he was sent back. He told them about everyone, Scott, the Argents, Lydia, Jackson, Isaac, Erica and Boyd… and he told them about Stiles.<p>

When he was done talking he had tears running down his face, he was looking down at his shaking hands and couldn't find the strength to look up. He had heard his parents gasp when he had told them about the fire, they hadn't spoken a word since he'd started his story and they were still silent a few minutes after he was done when his phone biped indicating a new text.

They ignored it but the mood had shifted. Derek wiped the tears from his face and looked up. They looked devastated. He wanted to say something to comfort them when his phone biped again. His mother walked to him and took him in her arms. They hugged for a while, Damien joining them. Derek's phone rang once again, then one more right after. Talia chuckled and let go.

"You're Mister popular today." She joked with a small smile on her lips.

"It's probably Stiles asking questions, I gave him my number just in case."

"'Just in case', is that what they call it this days?"

"Christ mom! He's 15!"

"And the Sheriff's son, so don't forget it." Derek's father added.

* * *

><p>The messages were from Stiles. He checked them an hour later when he was back at the Sheriff's house, hiding behind trees, to check on the teenager.<p>

**From Stiles**: "Can you transform all the time or is it just on the full moon? Can you transform into an actual wolf?"

**From Stiles**: "What do the different eye colors mean? Is it genetic?"

**From Stiles**: "Google is not helping, I keep finding Twilight fan pages "

**From Stiles**: "Please tell me Vampires don't sparkle"

Derek couldn't stop himself from laughing. He looked up at Stiles' bedroom window. The lights were off but he could see some light coming from his computer screen and he heard him typing on his keyboard. The werewolf decided to answer him to occupy himself while he waited for the Sheriff to get back home.

**To Stiles**: "Werewolves can learn to control the shift but only a few can transform completely into a wolf. Only Alphas have red eyes and vampires don't exist but if they did I doubt they'd sparkle."

He had barely hit 'send' when he heard Stiles flail and fall off his chair when his phone rang. Some things never change.


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

The day after his kidnapping, Stiles was 'invited' to the Hale house by Talia… if Derek coming in his room through the window, scaring the shit out of him in the process, to take him to the house without asking, could be considered as an invitation. They talked a lot in the car on the way but it was mostly small talk and a few more questions about werewolves and mythical creatures.

"So no dragons?" Stiles asked while Derek parked the car in front of the house.

"Nope… Well not that I know of anyway. I'm not an expert." Derek answered before getting out of the car. Stiles followed him until they reached the door, the werewolf walked in but the teenager stopped at the doorstep, staying quiet for the first time since they had left Stiles' room.

"It's okay Stiles; you're not in danger here."

"I'm not scared dude, I just…" Actually he was scared, terrified really. There were at least ten cars outside, probably more around the house, and he could already see people inside from the doorstep. Those were werewolves. There was a ton of werewolves in that house and he was just 147 pounds of pale skin and fragile bones. He sighed, gathering as much courage he could find. "Whatever, let's go." He said, walking in the wolves' den… literally.

Derek took the teenager to the panic room, it had been turned into a war office of sort; with so many werewolves in the house, the Alphas needed some place private to discuss their next move, they couldn't let everyone hear in case Ennis had someone inside.

Talia and Deucalion were already there, along with Deaton and Peter. They were all standing around a round table on which was a map of Beacon Hills.

"Mr. Stilinski, how are you feeling? I know all this is a lot to take in, especially after yesterday's… unfortunate event." Talia started.

"I'm… Okay, I guess."

"Good. I need you to stay here tonight; I want you to send a text to your father. Tell him you're staying at a friend's." She continued, her voice leaving no room for arguments.

"What?" Both Stiles and Derek asked at the same time.

"Mom what's going on? You said you just needed to ask him a few questions."

"There's been a change of plan. The prisoners finally talked, we leave at sun down."

"But-"

"The decision has been made Derek." Deucalion added. "Stiles will remain here with the children and the humans, with a few guards to protect them, while the rest of us attack Ennis and his pack. We can't wait and risk for them to move camp."

* * *

><p>Stiles wasn't terrified anymore, he was too pissed off for that. Not only was he going to have to stay in a house with strangers for a sleep over while Derek was going to fight against an army of other werewolves, but he had also just found out that his father knew about the existence of said werewolves for YEARS. And he never told Stiles, ever. He felt betrayed. Mrs. Hale had told him about the night his father had shot Peter and how she had worked with him on a few cases that required supernatural knowledge. It was the last thing she had told him before dismissing him. He was going to have a long talk with the sheriff when this was over.<p>

Derek showed Stiles to the living room where they found Paige on the couch, Nathan was kneeling in front of the coffee table, drawing and Fred was sitting on one of the chairs with her 8-month-old daughter, Nina, in her arms. She and Peter were married now, it had been a shotgun wedding, not that they had not thought about it before Fred got pregnant. Derek introduced everyone to the teenager and vice-versa before inviting him to sit down on the sofa with Paige.

An uncomfortable silence settled in the room until Paige asked "So Stiles, did you do the problems I gave for Monday?"

Both Stiles and Derek looked at her like she had just grown another head.

"No, I've been kinda busy… with the kidnapping and all."

* * *

><p>Talia was afraid of losing her pack. Derek had seen it in her eyes when he had told them about the fire. Before that, she had been a rock; nothing could scare her not even a few attacks from hunters. She had thought her pack was strong, that it could endure anything… but she had been wrong. In another world, her pack had died; burned alive in their den without so much as a warning. They had been destroyed by one woman.<p>

After Derek had told her what could have happened, she had spent the whole night watching Nathan sleeping, her sweet little boy who could have never been born, and she vowed that she would never let anyone hurt him. Her pack would survive but for that they had to be stronger. They had to fight to protect what was theirs.

* * *

><p>The werewolves were starting to leave. The sun was slowly disappearing and with him, more and more man and women were leaving the house. It was part of the plan, they left in small groups and would regroup somewhere not far from their target.<p>

Derek was in the last group to leave. He was in a group with Peter, Laura and five people from Deucalion's pack. Sixteen people were staying at the house. The humans; Stiles, Paige, Fred, Jared's wife Sabrina and Tom's wife April and the children; Nathan, Nina, Jared's 10-year-old twins, Alice and Juliet, Tom's 2-year-old son, Sam and a very reluctant Cora, who had been heard yelling for hours after she had been told that she was not old enough to fight; plus the five werewolves staying to protect them.

Derek had been busy for hours, preparing for the attack, begging his mother to reconsider and attending briefings. The last time he had seen Stiles, the teenager was going through at least five books simultaneously. He had looked like a kid in a candy store when Derek had told him they had books on werewolves. Unsurprisingly, Stiles was still exactly where Derek had left him hours before, only with a lot more books around him. It used to be Peter's room until he had left and was now a small library/office that Derek's uncle used when he was at the house. Stiles was sitting on the floor, surrounded by books, with a notepad on his right knee.

"Found anything interesting?" Derek asked mockingly.

For once Stiles didn't flail, he actually barely acknowledged Derek, his nose staying firmly in a huge old leather-bound book.

"Oh hey Derek." He mumbles absently.

"We're leaving soon… I just wanted to see if you were okay."

Stiles suddenly looked up. He stared silently at the werewolf for a second.

"I'm fine, don't worry." He said quickly, looking back down.

"Okay… I should… g-"

"Please don't go." Stiles whispered.

"I have to." Derek said, determined. He had to go with his pack, it was his place. Stiles was still looking down, staring at the book without really reading it. Derek made the rash decision to kneel in front of him, taking Stiles' chin in his hand to make him look up and finally joining their lips in a small tender kiss. He stopped the kiss almost immediately, getting back up and away from the 15-year-old as if he had been burned.

"I'll be back before you know it." Derek said. He didn't wait for an answer and left the room. Stiles sat still for a moment, bringing his hand to his lips. He wanted to smile, to be happy about getting his first kiss from Derek, but all he could think about was 'What if it also was their last?'.


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

The stench of blood was everywhere. Derek couldn't smell anything else since the battle had begun. Everything had seemed fine at first, but the moment they were detected it had all went to hell. They were outnumbered, almost 2-to-1, and while the Hales and Deucalion's pack tended to attack to wound, Ennis and his werewolves aimed to kill. Derek had no idea how long they'd been fighting and he had lost count of how much people he had fought against. So far he had managed to only incapacitate them, but he was starting to realize that it won't be enough, the werewolves healed to fast. He knew now, without the shadow of a doubt, he would come out of this with steel blue eyes.

* * *

><p>His eyes were hurting but Stiles couldn't bring himself to stop reading. It was getting harder and harder to focus though. On the bright side, he was getting a lot of information on werewolves but he wasn't feeling any excitement about it. He had thought briefly about disobeying Talia Hale's orders and calling his Dad to tell him the truth about the battle, but it was to risky. The battle was probably going to be bloody enough without adding humans to the mix; besides, it was hard enough to worry about Derek, and he couldn't bear the thought of losing both of them.<p>

It was strange, how strongly he felt about Derek. They didn't know each other that well, yet Stiles felt like a soldier's husband, waiting for his men to come home safe and sound. Of course, he remembered the few encounters he had had with Derek when they were younger but he knew that, back then, it had only been a stupid crush; but not anymore. He didn't dare put a name on his feelings; even though he had been thinking about them for over fifteen minutes while looking at nothing in particular.

That's how Cora found him when she walked in. Stiles had known her in passing, she was just a year older than him after all, but he hadn't known she was a Hale. It made sense now that he thought about it; she and Derek looked very similar.

She stepped in without a word and sat on the floor in front of him.

"I hate this." She simply said.

"Me too, but all we can do is wait."

"Easy for you to say, it's not your family out there." She spat out. Stiles refused to answer. She was right, it wasn't his family, but he also knew she was just taking out her frustration on him; if what she needed was someone to yell at, fine, but he wasn't going to snap back.

"Why did they kidnap you?" Cora asked once she was calmed down. "I mean, no offence, but I don't see what they could have wanted with you."

"You mean besides my charming personality and amazing repartee?" He joked back earning a tilted head and a raised eyebrow from the teenaged girl. "I don't know, the Alpha dude thought I was important to Derek somehow."

Stiles got lost in his thoughts, remembering what the giant wolf had told the woman who had been with him… which reminded him of something he had been wondering. "Does every werewolf have claws on their toes?"

"What?"

"That woman, one of the werewolves with Ennis, she was barefoot and there were tiny claws on her feet. It was really weird; I saw how much you guys like to go all 'grrr', but does that mean you destroy your shoes every time?"

Cora stayed quiet, after a while Stiles thought his 'grrr' performance, complete with hand gestures and teeth showing, might have been too much.

"What was her name?"

"Hum?" Stiles asked confused.

"The woman, did you hear a name?"

"I don't know he called her Katy or something. She was an Alpha too." Before Stiles could ask why it mattered, Cora was back on her feet and leaving the room. "Hey! Where are you going?" He asked, going after her.

"Kali, if you saw her that means her pack his here." She said while practically running.

"So what?" Stiles asked, confused, making Cora stop and pushing him violently against the wall with the flat of her hand on his chest.

"Ennis alone has more men than us and Deucalion combined, with Kali's pack they could be a hundred!"

* * *

><p>Derek couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe how far things had gone. He was covered in blood, his muscles were aching but he couldn't stop. He couldn't stop or he would die.<p>

His eyes were blue now. Everyone's eyes were blue now, except for the Alphas… and the dead.

He had lost sight of Laura and Peter. His aunt Malory and her son Tom were fighting back-to-back. His father was not far from him, fighting two of Ennis' betas. His mother was in her wolf form slashing and biting at an incredible speed, and Jared… Jared was lying on the ground, surrounded by a pool of his own blood, his eyes wide opened. Ennis had killed him.

* * *

><p>The guards wouldn't let them leave. Cora had screamed, begged and tried to pass by force but no matter how many times she and Stiles explained the situation they wouldn't budge. They were back in the small office, sitting on the floor. Stiles was doodling on his notepad while Cora seethed in raged.<p>

"They were right anyway, the battle has already started. There's nothing we can do." Stiles said. Cora looked up at him from the nail she had been torturing, ready to yell in indignation when she saw the notepad Stiles was holding in front of him.

'They could be listening. Is there any way we could leave without being seen?' was scribbled on it.

She stopped to think for a minute and then nodded.

They waited a bit, for the guards to forget about them, and then Cora led him to the basement. The prisoners were in there, sitting on the ground, their arms chained to metal posts behind their back. The two werewolves seemed agitated but they had deep wounds that weakened them. However, the woman was rather quiet and calm. She followed Stiles and Cora with her eyes as they crossed the room to a steel door, smiling through the piece of fabric gagging her.

"Wait." Stiles said when Cora started to walk through the door. He walked back in front of the strange woman and stared down at her. Then he left without saying a word, grabbing a baseball bat he had seen earlier on one of the shelves.

Behind the door was a tunnel, Cora said it led to the preserve, far enough away from the house so that the guards won't hear or smell them. It was a hidden entrance, no one outside the family knew about it. They walked for a few minutes, talking freely about their plan now that they could not be overheard.

"You're sure you know where they are?" Cora asked for what felt like the tenth time.

"Yes, I told you. The map was right in front of me and the place was marked in red. It'll take maybe half an hour to walk there."

"Stiles-"

"I swear Cora, I know where it is."

"Stiles!" Cora insisted, she had stopped walking but Stiles had not noticed and had kept walking.

"Why did you stop?" He asked after turning around.

"That's mountain ash." Cora pointed at a line of dark brown dust that seemed to disappear in tiny mice holes on each side of the tunnel. "It's a security system; we only use it in last resort. I didn't know it was going to be there."

"But it's good right? It keeps the bad guys out."

"Yes, but it's also keeping me in Stiles! And unless you have some fresh mountain ash with you, we can't close it back if we break it."

* * *

><p>Everything was a blur. He kept fighting but it felt like he was on autopilot. Derek had more wounds than he ever remembered having, his shirt was torn apart and blood was covering every inch of his skin. They were losing.<p>

When the werewolf he had been fighting for 10 minutes finally fell, he looked around for his family. He couldn't find anyone. He tried to search for a scent but it was no use, the smell of blood was worse than ever. Suddenly he heard a familiar roar and turned around just in time to see his father charge Ennis. They crashed into each other and, for a fraction of a second, Derek thought his Dad had succeeded… but them the giant Alpha threw Damien far away from him and the beta stayed down.

Derek ran to him, kneeling at his side, his hands automatically covering the wound on his father's chest. Blood was flowing through his fingers and he knew when he looked into his father's eyes that he was dying.

"Dad." Derek whimpered over and over, tears falling down his face. "Dad please don't-"

"Don't worry pup, you're going to join him soon enough." Ennis said behind him. The Alpha was standing a bit away, an evil smirk on his face.

"Why are you doing this?" Derek shouted back. "What do you want?"

"Isn't that obvious yet? I want what your family has been monopolizing for years with that ridiculous pack of yours. Don't you think it's a bit unfair that we have to do whatever your bitch of a mother tells us to just because she can turn into a wolf? You don't even have half as much members in your pack as I do in mine but I still got to respect her, and for what? Having fur?"

"So what? You're going to kill us because we're more respectable than you?" Derek half-sobbed and half snorted at the Alpha.

"No, I'm going to kill you and your whole pack to get your territory."

"What the fuck are you talking about? There's nothing special about Beacon Hills anymore, the Nemeton has been dead for years!"

Ennis smirk grew even bigger at the word 'Nemeton'.

"Good thing I know someone who can bring it back."

What Ennis suggested was crazy, yet it brought back memories to the beta. Memories of a 15-year-old Paige dying in the root cellar, and of Jennifer telling him about the power of the Nemeton… Jennifer who was once called Julia Baccari.

He had not recognized her. How could he have? He had never seen her original face before. Not until Stiles' kidnapping. Not until they had taken her prisoner. _They're going to attack the house… _But Derek's thought was interrupted when he suddenly realized that he could no longer feel his father chest rise and fall, he couldn't hear his slow heart beat or his labored breath anymore; Damien Hale was dead. Derek's bright blue eyes shown in the night as he threw his head back in a powerful roar. He jumped back on his feet and faced Ennis as the Alpha sneered at him.

* * *

><p>Winifred was trying to read in the living room of the Hale house, even though her mind kept running back to her husband and the war he was fighting, when she heard the pitter-patter of little feet coming down the stairs. Nathan came straight to her as if he had known she was there. He had probably smelled her but she wasn't sure if he was old enough to be able to do that yet.<p>

"Aunt Winy, I'm thirsty." He said with his right thumb in his mouth.

"Well let's get you some water then." She took his other hand and led him to the kitchen.

"Where's Cora?" Nat' asked while she was pouring water in an old sippy cup they only used when Nathan was too tired to be careful.

"In her room, it's past her bedtime to."

"No she's not, I looked."

Fred stopped a moment to think. She hadn't been paying much attention to the teenagers in the house; she had been too busy taking care of Nathan and Nina and worrying about Peter.

"I'm sure she's around somewhere, I'll look." She reassured him.

Once Nathan was back in bed, Fred checked every room she could think off but both Cora and Stiles seemed to have vanished.

* * *

><p>Derek was going to die, it was over. Barely a few minutes against Ennis and he was already on his back, his side bleeding profusely. The giant was a few steps in front of him, marching his way to inflict the last blow when they both heard noise coming from the forest behind Derek and Stiles came running through, a baseball bat in his hand.<p>

The two werewolves froze, shocked, as the human teenager placed himself between Derek and the Alpha.

"Don't you dare touch him you… actually I can't think off an insult right now but it would have been a very mean one." Stiles babbled. Ennis chuckled but said nothing.

"Stiles, what the hell are you doing? RUN!" Derek started to yell, he kept screaming, begging the teenager to save himself but it was useless; Stiles was too stubborn to back out. The teen swung his bat at the giant before him, aiming for the head, but Ennis grabbed it effortlessly. The Alpha looked down at the human with honest confusion.

"What do you think you're doing little man?" He asked as he smirked down at the teenager.

Stiles cast a quick look behind the giant werewolf and then looked up at him with a smirk of his own.

"Distracting you." He said right before Talia, still in her wolf form, jumped on Ennis' back, her teeth snapping shut on his neck so deep that his spinal cord was reflecting the moonlight. The Alpha's body hadn't yet touched the ground that Stiles was already running to Derek's side.

"Are you okay?" Stiles asked worryingly as he looked at the bleeding wound on the beta's side.

"What the fuck Stiles? How did you get here?" Derek yelled with anger, he couldn't believe how reckless the human was. Before Stiles could try to justify himself, they heard a low growl coming from where Ennis used to be. At first Derek though it was one of Ennis' betas who wanted revenged but it wasn't. It was Talia, still in her wolf form but more feral than he had ever seen her before, growling dangerously at Stiles.

Derek reacted quickly when he realized that she was going to attack the human, he jumped back on his feet, pushed Stiles back, hunched down to the grown, with one hand grasping the forest floor in front of him, to be at the same eye level as his Alpha, and roared. The shock of being defied by her own Beta snapped Talia out of her feral state enough for her to gain her control back. She stayed silent for a moment, observing their surroundings. Ennis' people were gone; they had fled when they felt the death of their Alpha. The battle was over; she could morn her brother and her husband now.

* * *

><p>Back at the house, Nathan woke up to Cora at his side, stroking his hair.<p>

"I thought you were gone." He said sleepily.

"I couldn't leave you little man." She comforted him with a smile. "I promised Dad I'd protect you."

* * *

><p>In an old basement, far away from Beacon Hills, Gerard Argent was sitting at a desk, looking over some maps when someone walked in.<p>

"Sir, the battle is over. Ennis failed."

"As predicted; How many dead wolves?" Gerard said, practically joyful.

"Ennis and 35 of his wolves are dead; Deucalion lost almost half of his pack."

"What about the Hales?"

"2 of them are dead, the Alpha's husband and one of her brothers."

"And the prisoners?"

"Our men got killed by werewolves guarding the house; they didn't have the time to break the mountain ash, Kali couldn't get in. When the news of Ennis' failure reached the bitch, she fled."

"It's fine; we don't need her or her witch." The old man answered his joy slightly less visible.

"What's the plan now sir?"

"We wait. They will pay soon enough."

Gerard dismissed the other man and smirked. Ennis had been so easy to manipulate, so eager for more power that he didn't question the Argent's intentions. The Hale had put his daughter in jail and made his son a deserter.

Chris had disagreed with him on Kate's decision to attack the Hale pack, hiding behind that old code that he liked so much while he packed his bags and moved to Beacon Hills to protect the 'innocent werewolves from people like Kate'.

There was no such thing as innocent werewolves but Gerard couldn't care less about his son's sudden change of heart. He had more important things to think about, like how he was going to use the supernatural to stop the disease growing inside of him and avenge his daughter at the same time.


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

It had been months, literal months, since the battle and Stiles had not heard from Derek at all. When the fighting ended, someone called the Sheriff to help clean up the mess and figure out what to do, and as soon as John got there he quickly ordered Stiles to get in the cruiser and stay there. His father had definitely not been happy when he found out the truth and if the Hales had not been mourning the loss of two of their members, he might have done worse than forbidding them to go anywhere near Stiles. In the end, most of the bodies were taken care of with the exception of Jared and Damien Hale. They were reported missing and were "found" a few hours later in the forest. Stiles had wanted to attend the funerals but the sheriff was barely letting him out of the house for school at the time, let alone a funeral service full of werewolves.

Stiles had not been technically grounded, being kidnapped and dragged into the supernatural were not his fault after all, but his father had kept an eye on him for a long time after the battle. After a while, things settled down and life went back to being incredibly boring. Stiles had been kidnapped by werewolves, saved by other werewolves, he was kissed by a super-hot MALE werewolf and he fought in an epic battle against two werewolf packs, but a few month later it was like none of this ever happened. Miss Krasikeva was treating him like every other student and refused to answer his questions about the Hales (or more specifically Derek) and he was pretty sure that Cora was back in school but she was probably using her super-werewolf powers to avoid him because he had not seen her long enough to talk to her.

But today would be different, because now, not only was he 16 years old but he also had his driver's license and a brand old car. Technically, he had been 16 for a long time, it was already summer and he had just finished his sophomore year, so that wasn't new, and he had his driver's license as soon as he was old enough so that wasn't new either, but the car… Well, let's just say that Stiles had fallen in love with Roscoe at first sight and he had begged the owner to keep it for him until he got the money which took him a lot longer then he thought it would.

But no matter, Stiles had a jeep now, which meant that he could go anywhere, including the coffee shop, on this beautiful summer Saturday. He had not been able to come to the coffee shop since the battle, mostly because of his overprotective father, and Derek wasn't answering his phone so there was his chance.

The place hadn't change; the only difference was the menu that was mostly showing cold beverages instead of the special hot cocoa from last winter, but there was one important thing missing: Derek.

The werewolf was no longer behind the counter with his beautiful hazel eyes and his blinding smile, the one he only used for Stiles every Saturday. Instead there was a new barista, a young woman whose name tag said "Rachel". He approached her quickly, speaking before she could start her well-rehearsed "Welcome speech".

"I'm looking for Derek, he used to work here on Saturdays."

The barista's welcoming smile disappeared from her face.

"He quit a while ago… After his dad… Well, after what happened."

"Do you know where I could find him? Did he leave an address?"

"Sorry, I'm not allowed to tell you."

Stiles was devastated, he had been thinking about this day ever since he turned 16. He would go back to the coffee shop on a Saturday, Derek would be there and they would talk. Maybe he could have made him laugh and then he could have asked about the kiss… But of course Derek wasn't there anymore; he had lost his father…

* * *

><p>A few hours later, Stiles was back in his room, lying on his bed and staring at his phone. He had sent many texts to Derek during the last few months, rereading them he realized that it had been selfish of him to ask for Derek's attention when he was grieving. After thinking (and brooding) for a long time, Stiles decided to send one last text. After that, he would leave the werewolf alone.<p>

To Derek:

"I'm sorry about what happened, I just want to make sure that you're okay. I hope you are. Take care of yourself."

The teenager pressed 'send' without looking twice; he didn't want to over-think it, which is exactly why he spent the next hour internally freaking out about every word of it. He thought about it over and over until he fell into a restless sleep.

* * *

><p>Stiles woke up suddenly but by the time he was lucid enough to think, he couldn't remember why. It was past midnight, his father should have been back by ten but maybe he had to stay late, maybe Stiles had been awaken by the Sheriff coming home. He was about to try and go back to sleep when he heard it; a noise toward his window, like someone walking on the roof.<p>

He got out of bed slowly and as silently as possible (for him, meaning he almost fell out of bed by getting tangled with the sheets and probably woke the neighbors) and grabbed his brand new baseball bat. He got to the window, which was always opened (and he took a note in his head to close it more often, not that it would stop bad guys) and looked up on the roof.

It was Derek, sitting on the roof not far from the window.

"Derek? What are you doing out here?"

The werewolf looked sheepishly at the teenager.

"I wanted to talk but you were sleeping so I… I was going to wait till you woke up."

"Do you want to come in?" Stiles asked hopefully.

"I probably shouldn't… Your dad-"

"-Right, sure. I'll just…" Stiles hesitated for a moment then jumped out through his window and onto the roof. He walked the few step separating him from Derek and sat next to him.

"I haven't been here in a while." He whispered more to himself than to Derek.

"I like sitting on roofs, I feel safe there…" Derek said.

"Yeah me to, it's just… I used to come here when… Whatever, it doesn't matter."

"You can tell me Stiles." Derek encouraged him, but Stiles hadn't wanted to bring up anything remotely close to that subject.

"It's nothing really." He tried one last time but Derek didn't even talk back, instead he gazed at him with such a genuinely concerned look that Stiles felt like he had to answer.

"After my mom died, my dad… He didn't… He started drinking more than he should have." If anything Derek looked even more concerned so Stiles quickly added: "He wasn't violent or anything like that! He wasn't really fun to be around though. So I came here when it got bad… then it got better and I forgot about this place."

"We can get inside if you prefer." Derek said with a reassuring smile.

"Nah, I'm good. So, what did you want to talk about?"

"I wanted to apologize, I've been ignoring you since the battle and-"

"-Wow dude, no, don't… don't apologize for that, I get it. You needed time with your family, it's okay."

"No, it's not. It's true that… My dad's death was… It was hard, for all of us. But that's not why I avoided you."

Stiles stared at Derek, startled. "You avoided me? I thought… I thought you just needed time…"

"Your dad said-"

"-My dad was terrified after what he saw, he needed time that's all. He wouldn't have let me buy a car otherwise, believe me. He knows I won't stay away from you… all, you all as in "the werewolves" not just… you, you."

"And what's wrong with just me?" Derek teased.

"Nothing is wrong with you, I just… I didn't know if I could bring up… You know… the thing."

"'The thing'?"

"The kiss, before you left…" Stiles whispered hesitantly.

"Stiles…" Derek sighed. His tone of voice was not what Stiles wanted to hear.

"Don't." He tried to interrupt him.

"You're fifte-"

"-Sixteen-"

"-Which is still very much illegal."

"You're the one who kissed me!"

"I know." Derek answered, lowering his head.

"Why did you kiss me then? Was it just to make me feel better?" Stiles almost yelled even though deep down he knew that he shouldn't but he couldn't stop himself from getting angry at Derek.

"No, it wasn't for that!"

"Then what was it; a last kiss for the dying man?"

"The fact that I can't be with you doesn't mean that I don't want to Stiles!"

Stiles was speechless. He stared at his hands and kept repeating Derek's words in his head, making sure that it really meant what he thought it meant; Derek wanted to be with him. A huge smile appeared on his face and he looked back up to where Derek should have been but he was alone on the roof; Derek was gone.


	29. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

Scott's snoring used to lull Stiles to sleep when they were kids, after his mother's death he hadn't been able to sleep at all without it for weeks, but that night it was grating on his nerves. It wasn't the reason he couldn't sleep though, that was 100% Derek's fault. It had been two days since their conversation on the roof, two days since the werewolf had told Stiles he wanted to be with him before disappearing, and Derek still refused to answer any of Stiles' texts. Not that the teenager expected him to, Derek had been perfectly clear; he wanted to be with Stiles but they could not be together.

Deep down, Stiles understood. He was only 16 and Derek could go to jail, especially if the Sheriff found out which was very likely to happen since he was Stiles' father. But even that knowledge couldn't stop him from picturing what it would be like to be with Derek. He daydreamed of movie nights at Derek's place, of curling up in his arms, eating junk food and watching every movie containing werewolves ever made. Derek would probably complain about how unrealistic it was and point out every inconsistence while Stiles made fun of him for it, they'd banter and laugh and make out, a lot. It looked perfect in Stiles' head.

First he had to convince Derek that it was worth the risk but it would prove rather difficult if the werewolf refused to talk to him.

"Allison…" Scott moaned in his sleep, making Stiles roll his eyes and sigh in frustration. Sleepovers at Scott's used to be awesome, until his best friend met 'the love of his life' and sharing a bed with him became really awkward sometimes. Stiles turned on his side to stare at the wall and tried to fall asleep. It took him another hour to fall into a restless slumber.

* * *

><p>He was awakened suddenly by Isaac climbing through the window.<p>

"Dude, I thought you were grounded?" Stiles asked sleepily while sitting up.

"I am but Cam' had to take a shift at the garage this morning, he won't be home 'til two."

Stiles looked over Scott, who was still asleep, to see the alarm clock. It was barely nine am. He sighed and got up.

"I'll make breakfast; can you try to wake him up?" He said, pointing at Scott.

"'kay, but if he calls me Allison again, I'm gonna flip his goddamn mattress with him still on it."

Stiles left the room without acknowledging Isaac's remark knowing full well he was going to do it anyway. He went down to the kitchen and started to make pancakes. He knew the McCall's kitchen as well as his own and managed to have a huge tower of the delicious treat waiting when Isaac and a pissed off looking Scott walked in. Scott lost his kicked puppy face the minute he saw the pancakes and started to pile them up in his plate after a quick "Man, you're the best Stiles!" that Stiles took as a 'thank you'.

The three of them ate in silence, Scott and Isaac devoured pancake after pancake as if they hadn't eaten in days while Stiles ate a small bite every minute or so. He was more preoccupied by his cellphone that he kept next to his plate. Between each bite he unlocked it to check if Derek had answered his texts yet and sometimes he sent him a new one, usually along the line of "We need to talk." or "Why are you not answering me asshole?".

He was so focused on his phone that he didn't notice Scott and Isaac were done eating and were staring at him with similar confused looks until Scott shoved him to get his attention.

"Dude! What the hell was that for?" Stiles asked after almost falling of his chair.

"I called your name five times!" Scott snapped back.

"Oh. Sorry, I'm a little preoccupied."

"A little?" Isaac teased.

"Come on Stiles, what the hell is wrong with you lately? And don't say 'Nothing', I know there's something bothering you; you've been acting weird for weeks!" Scott insisted.

Stiles hesitated for a moment. He hadn't said anything to his friends about the kidnapping, the werewolves and the battle… or Derek. He knew he couldn't say anything about the werewolf thing but he could definitely use some advice for the Derek situation.

"There's… this guy-"

"-I knew it! You've got a new crush!" Isaac exclaimed.

"It's not just a crush! I… I really like him…" Stiles protested before looking down.

"But…?" Scott asked gently.

"He says we can't be together because… well he's… older."

"How much older?" Scott continued.

"Not sure but he's like… over 21. And, you know, me being a minor means that he could go to jail if we got caught so…"

"So don't get caught." Scott said wisely.

"That's your advice? 'Don't get caught'?"

"Stiles, if you've been down like that for weeks because of that guy, it probably means you like him A LOT, maybe even love him. I want you to be happy dude! And if you love that guy like I love Allison, then it's worth the risk."

Stiles finally looked up, his eyes shining with unshed tears.

"You really think so?" He asked.

"Yeah, I do." Scott answered with a big dopey smile.

"Well I don't." Isaac said. "Your dad is the Sheriff; I seriously doubt you'll be able to hide it from him. Do you really want to risk sending the poor guy to jail?"

Stiles was about to protest when his phone biped indicating a new text. He barely managed to stop the squealing sound coming out of his mouth and flailed until he got his phone in his hand. He unlocked it and immediately lost his hopeful smile. It wasn't Derek but a text from the Beacon Hills library reminding him that he had three books due back before the end of the week. Maybe Isaac was right; maybe he should just give up now.


	30. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

The library was not very impressive but it was rather big for a small town like Beacon Hills. Stiles rarely used his old library card, the internet had everything he might need after all, but, after days of searching through hundreds of web pages that looked like they had been made in the 90s by a colorblind ten-year-old on LSD, he decided to check out some books, hoping they'd have some information on werewolves.

He found three old looking books mentioning the myth of Lycaon but they hadn't contained much more than what he had found in the books Derek had let him read when he was at the Hale house. Stiles was dying to take a closer look at those books but since Derek refused to talk to him, he couldn't just show up at the house and ask. Especially after his father forbade him to go anywhere near the preserve… or the Hales.

Stiles replayed the conversation he had had with Scott and Isaac a few days ago, and while he loved Scott for his support and optimism, he couldn't stop himself from thinking that Isaac was right. It was too dangerous, more than Isaac even knew. His father wouldn't just arrest Derek if he found out; he would probably shoot him with the wolfsbane bullets Stiles had found in his Dad's bedroom when he was definitely not snooping.

As he parked his car near the library, Stiles swore to himself that he was done thinking about Derek. And it lasted for the 2 minutes and 24 seconds it took him to walk from his car to the front desk of the library behind which sat Derek himself.

They stared at each other in silence, Derek looking up shyly at the teenager.

"Hi." He said with a little friendly smile; a smile that fell when Stiles surprised look disappeared and got replaced by a 'so-pissed-off-I-might-kill-you-right-now' look.

* * *

><p>It didn't take long for Derek to decide to tell his coworker he was taking a break and dragging the very pissed off looking Stiles in the staff lounge. It was just a small room with a couch, a coffee maker that made him miss his old job at the coffee shop and a tiny fridge that hadn't been cleaned for what seemed like years but at least no one would be there to witness Derek being yelled at by a 16-year-old.<p>

"Why the hell have you been avoiding me?! Actually scratch that, I know WHY you've been avoiding me but HOW DARE YOU avoid me after… after telling me THAT?!" Stiles shouted furiously with a lot of hand gestures and finger pointing.

"I'm not avo-"

"Oh don't even try to deny it Derek!"

"We've been over this Stiles! We can't be together." Derek said with determination.

Stiles paused briefly.

"But you want to, right?" He asked hesitantly.

"Yeah… Yes, I do."

They stared at each other in complete silence for a while, and then Stiles sighed in frustration.

"So what do we do?"

"For now, we could… try to be friends?" Derek asked with a small hopeful smile.

And how could Stiles say 'no' to that smile?

* * *

><p>The first few days were the hardest, Stiles couldn't stop himself from flirting or throwing innuendos in most of their conversations and Derek tented to get extremely quiet as a response, but after a while it turned into easy banter and Derek had no problem with that.<p>

They spent a lot of time texting each other, since Derek was working full-time, but sometimes the werewolf came by Stiles' house and they'd stay in the teenager's room for hours, watching Netflix and talking.

On Derek's insistence, Stiles told his father about their friendship. Not about their mutual feelings or about the time they spent together in his room obviously. The Sheriff wasn't terribly happy but after a long talk with Talia he decided to let them be friends. It helped a lot. They could go out instead of sneaking around and the two last weeks off summer became the best of Stiles' life.

They went to the movies, to the coffee shop and to the mall this one time. The latter would probably never happen again but Stiles would never forget the look on Derek's face when a lady who looked old enough to be his mother hit on him shamelessly. But the best part about those two weeks was that Derek got to meet Scott and Isaac and Stiles got to spend time with all of them together. Scott thought it was great that they got to be sort-of-together and Isaac had time to warm up to the idea.

Stiles and Derek both knew they weren't just friends; they were pre-dating as Scott put it. But for now it was enough.


	31. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30 **

While Stiles' summer had been awesome, especially towards the end of it, his junior year was not being nearly as fun. Harris was still an asshole, no surprises there; Stiles was perfecting the art of bench warming at Lacrosse just like he did freshmen and sophomore year, he didn't mind much but Scott, who had trained all summer, didn't make first line either and if there was one thing Stiles hated more than Harris it was to see his best friend sad; Miss Krasikeva kept throwing weird looks at him ever since his "friendship" with Derek started, she obviously knew something was up and seemed torn between protecting her student from Derek or protecting her best friend from Stiles; And last but definitely not least, he couldn't see Derek as much and the werewolf was acting weird. He used to text Stiles all the time when they couldn't see each other but for the last few weeks the teenager was always the one initiating contact.

He tried not to think about it too much as he checked himself one last time in the mirror. It was Saturday night and he had a party to get to. He found both Scott and Isaac waiting for him in front of his house and, after talking for a few minutes, they left on foot as Heather's house was just a few blocks from Stiles'.

Stiles had known Heather since they were three, their mothers were friends and they often babysat for each other. They didn't talk much but they were always friendly and always remembered each other's birthday.

When the three boys got to the house, Scott stopped and sighed.

"Why are we going to this party again?"

"Come on Scott, we haven't had any bro time in weeks!" Stiles whined.

"Besides I need this, it's always 'Allison this' and 'Derek that' with you two lately; It's pathetic." Isaac added. "I need a girlfriend, like, yesterday and this is the perfect place to start so move it Scott." He didn't wait for an answer and walked towards the house.

"You heard him Scotty! And with a sense of humor like his, he's going to need all the help he can get."

* * *

><p>Heather saw Stiles immediately when they walked in and practically ran towards him, calling out his name enthusiastically. He had no time to finish his own greeting before her mouth somehow ended up on his. He froze, Scott and Isaac were both a little lost but Heather didn't seem to notice the awkwardness.<p>

"So glad that you made it." She continued. "Come downstairs with me and help me pick out a bottle of wine."

When he found his voice again they were already halfway there, Heather dragging him along by the arm.

"You know I don't really have any kind of knowledge on wine, I did read this article on Wikipedia once but it was more about the whole process they use to make wine not-" Stiles rambled as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Stiles." She cut him off, dragging him further in the cellar. "I just turned 17 today. And you know what I want for my birthday?"

Stiles was starting to see where this was going but he decided to play dumb just in case.

"A bike?"

"To not be a 17-year-old virgin." She said while taking her shoes off. Even though it had crossed Stiles' mind, he was still shocked by the idea. Her lips found their way to his again, for more than just a peck this time and for a fraction of second he kissed her back. Then he stopped and looked around, embarrassed.

"Have you never done it before either?"

"Turned 17? No, not yet."

"Stiles?" She asked again.

"Yeah, maybe that other thing too." He sighed.

"Do you want to?"

Did he want to? Of course he wanted to, he had been thinking about it since he first found out what sex was.

"I mean, would you be okay with that?"

She wanted an answer faster than he could think of one. He wasn't really with Derek but he couldn't… could he? He tried to think of something quickly, an excuse that wouldn't hurt her feelings.

"I don't have any hum…" Hopefully she wasn't actually prepared and he'd get out of this on a technicality.

"Oh, my brother as some, in the upstairs bathroom!" She informed him enthusiastically.

For some reason, he actually went to the upstairs bathroom and found the condoms… The XXL condoms. He would never look at her brother Dean the same way ever again. That's when he finally snapped out of it.

"What the hell am I doing?" He asked himself out loud. He put the condoms back in the drawer under the sink and ran back to the wine cellar.

"Did you found them?" Heather asked as soon as the door was closed behind him.

"No! I mean, yes but… I can't. I'm sorry, really I am but I… I don't want to." The last part was not what he had wanted to say, at least not out loud, and considering the look of intense outrage coming from Heather he probably should have said something different. He opened his mouth to apologies but her hand was faster and before he knew it he was watching her run up the stairs, his cheek stinging from the slap.

* * *

><p>Stiles found Scott and Isaac in the living room, they were in a corner alone and looking miserable and Stiles would have laughed if he wasn't in such a hurry to leave. He got to them and Scott frowned when he saw him.<p>

"Dude! What happened to your face?"

"I'll tell you later, can we leave please?"

"Now? We just got here!" Isaac protested.

"Yes now! Come on." Stiles insisted, dragging his two friends towards the door. They followed in silence until they were on their way back.

"Are you going to tell us what happened or what?" Isaac asked angrily.

"Dude, you weren't having any fun anyway!"

"Yeah because the girl who was supposed to introduce us to everyone disappeared with the guy who'd dragged us there in the first place!"

They stared at each other for a moment then Stiles was about to tell them what happened when he saw someone a few feet away from them. They had stopped on the sidewalk and there was a women standing further away, facing them and looking their way with glowing red eyes.

"Guys." He whispered, looking straight at her. Scott and Isaac noticed and turned around to see what he was looking at.

"What the hell?" Scott said when he saw her.

"Run." Stiles said, his throat tight in fear.

Isaac turned his head towards him, confused.

"Wha-"

"RUN!" Stiles finally shouted, taking both Scott's and Isaac's arm and tugging as hard as he could to get them running. For a moment Stiles thought they were not going to follow but then he heard a vicious roar behind them and suddenly the three off them were running as fast as humanly possible. They crossed the street, Isaac leading them, and jumped over the fence of the nearest house to get on the other side. When Stiles realized they were on the edge of the forest he almost stopped. Running in the woods was a bad idea on a normal day but doing it while being chased by an Alpha werewolf was probably suicide. They had no choice though as the women, who, if he remembered correctly, was called Kali, was right behind them.

It was too dark and the forest was too thick, Stiles was tripping on every root crossing his path and barely managed to keep running. He could still see Isaac but Scott was behind him. He could hear his best friend's breathing though but that was not a good sign.

They had been running for several minutes. Stiles was pretty sure that the werewolf was toying with them, she should have caught up to them by now.

"Guys!" Scott called out, he had stopped running and was leaning against a tree while trying to catch his breath. "I think we lost her."

Stiles turned around, Isaac walked back towards them. The both of them had almost reached Scott when Kali suddenly jumped out of nowhere, her roar echoing in the forest. But it wasn't her roar that scared Stiles the most but the scream coming out of Scott's mouth as she sank her fangs into his shoulder.


	32. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

There was blood, and Scott laid passed out on the floor after Kali had dropped him there, but Stiles tried to stay focused. They needed help. She was looking straight at him, a smug look on her face and blood dripping around her mouth. Scott's blood. Scott was hurt. He didn't know what to do except staring at her, waiting for her to attack again.

Suddenly, she turned her head to the left, her eyes searching beyond the trees with a furrowed brow. When she found whatever she had been looking for, she growled in frustration.

"We're not done yet." She told Stiles with a deep guttural voice before disappearing on the opposite direction of what had caused her to run.

Stiles legs almost gave out in relief but they were not safe yet. He ran to Scott's side, Isaac following him close.

Scott was still breathing and the deep gash on his shoulder had already stopped bleeding. Stiles knew what it meant but they didn't have time to freak out.

"Scott, I need you to wake up buddy okay?" He tried with a soothing voice, to no avail.

"Stiles! We should call 911!" Isaac said, his voice full of panic, that's when they started to hear gun shots and shouting voices in the distance.

"We can't!" Stiles looked around, hoping to found something, anything that could help. There was nothing but trees though, and they needed to go; the gun shots and shouting voices were getting closer. He looked up in a silent prayer that Scott would forgive him then slapped his best friend with all his strength.

"Wh… What's go'n on?" Scott mumbled.

"I'll tell you later, come on Isaac! Grab his other shoulder, we need to go. Now!"

It took a lot more time for them to reach civilization again than Stiles had hoped for and after a few minutes, while Scott was barely conscious enough to walk, Isaac started to ask questions again. Stiles left them unanswered since he was mostly repeating "What the fuck was that?", "Who the hell was she?" and "How can you stay so fucking calm?" with a few changes in vocabulary in between.

Finally they reached Stiles' house, thankfully without being seen. They took Scott up to Stiles' room and dropped him on the bed. They took his shirt off to have a better look at the wound and, as Stiles expected, it wasn't bleeding, and while it wasn't fully healed yet, it looked as if it was a few days old instead of an hour.

"That's weird… There was so much blood, how …?" Isaac wondered out loud.

Stiles had no idea where to begin so he decided to just say it.

"She was a werewolf."

"What?"

"The woman who attacked us, she was a werewolf."

"Come on Stiles! You can't possibly believe that."

"I'm not kidding Isaac! You saw it right? The glowing red eyes, the claws, the fangs!"

"Yeah but… a werewolf? This is the real world Stiles, not one off your fantasy movies."

* * *

><p>Even after Stiles had told him everything he knew about werewolves, it still took Derek showing up and shifting in front of him for Isaac to believe him. The teenager was pretty much in shock after that and kept staring at Derek in awe.<p>

"Scott's going to be fine but he's definitely one of us now." Derek said after taking a look at the sleeping teenager's wound.

"Okay." Stiles let out a long sigh, the truth finally sinking in. "Okay. What do we do now?"

"Scott should wake up soon, I'll take the three of you to see my mom. She'll answer any questions you might have and she'll help Scott with his new senses."

"Good. That's… good, let's do that. Wait. Why your mom? Why can't you do the answering questions and babysitting Scott thing?"

"Me and Peter are going to follow Kali's trail."

"What?! No, that's not good! That's a terrible plan! Did you miss the part about the gun shots? There are hunters out there!"

"Yes, and we know it so we'll know to be careful and avoid them."

Stiles was about to argue some more when Scott opened his eyes and groaned.

"What happen'd?"

"We were attacked by a werewolf. She bit you but you're safe now. I called Derek because he's a werewolf to. But don't worry, he's the good kind of werewolf." Stiles explained in one breath.

"Dude!" Scott was suddenly wide awake, his eyes wide opened and alternating between Stiles and Derek. "Your boyfriend's a werewolf?"

* * *

><p>An uncomfortable silence had settled in the car on their way to the Hale house. Scott was gazing out the window, Stiles was trying to communicate how furious he was at Derek by staring straight ahead at the road as if it had personally offended him, Derek was trying to communicate how Stiles' childish passive aggressiveness was not getting to him by looking completely emotionless and Isaac was still internally freaking out about the existence of werewolves. But then he had to think of something else because, seriously, werewolves?<p>

So instead he decided to reminisce about what had happened before the thing with the werewolf.

"So, Stiles, what the hell happened with that Heather chick at the party?"

"What?" Stiles flailed and turned around to look at Isaac. "Nothing happened." Stiles said with fake innocence while trying to say 'RED ALERT! OH MY GOD ISAAC SHUT UP!' with his eyes.

"Oh really? The birthday girl kissed you on sight and then dragged you out with some flimsy excuse – seriously, who drinks wine at a birthday party?- and nothing happened?"

Stiles cast a glance at Derek. He was still focusing on driving and looking straight ahead but clutching the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were white. Stiles turned back around and look pointedly at Isaac.

"Yes, really. ."

"So you didn't ran out of there like a bat out of hell because you failed t- OW! Jesus Scott!"

Isaac stared at Scott who had kicked him on the ribs with his elbow. It's then that all three teenagers realized that the car had stopped in front of the Hale House and Derek was already on the front porch.

* * *

><p>They had Kali's scent from Scott's shirt so Derek and Peter started their search at the edge of the preserve where Stiles said she had chased them. They found her trail easily enough but they met with a few problems while following it; hunters. They went around several groups of three hunters patrolling the area. After close to half an hour they heard a larger group that seemed to have stopped at the river's shore.<p>

"She probably used the river to hide her tracks." Peter said. "Her scent goes south-east, at counter current. We can go around them and then we should be able to go faster, the hunters probably have no idea where to look now."

"Wait!" Derek called out as Peter was about to leave. "We should get closer, maybe we can figure out who they are."

"That's not what Talia ordered Derek."

"I'm not going too close, I just want to hear them better. One of them sounds familiar but I can't hear it properly because of the river, the water's too loud."

Peter agreed reluctantly. As they got closer Derek tried to focus harder. He knew that voice, he was sure of it. Then he finally heard it clearly.

"… going feral. We need to find her before her instincts pushes her to bite every human that crosses her path."

Gerard. He was hunting her for the bite, just like he had done with Derek. Only this time she was making it easier, if she was going feral her instincts would drive her mad and she would give the bite to any human coming too close.

"It's Argent."

"I thought he and his wife had retire after that thing with Kate?"

"Not Chris, Gerard."

"What the hell is he doing back in town?"

"Nothing good. Let's go, we have to find her before he does."

They started to run, avoiding the few remaining groups of hunters in large circles until they reached the edge of the forest. They had smelled blood along with her scent but at first Derek thought it had been coming from Scott's blood on her clothes, now that he had an idea of where she was going, he realized he could have been wrong.

"I think she's injured." He told Peter as they walked down a dark street.

"What makes you think that?"

"Think about it, if you get injured by hunters in the territory of another pack, where do you go?"

The answer was so obvious, Peter rolled his eyes at his own stupidity.

"Deaton's."

* * *

><p>They were just around the corner from the animal clinic when she jumped from the roof behind them and landed on Derek. They rolled on the floor, trashing, clawing and biting as they went. Then Peter grabbed her from behind and threw her on the other side of the street, where she hit a dumpster on her way down.<p>

Kali stood up and faced them. She had what appeared to be a bullet wound on her left thigh, from the looks of it, it wasn't the lethal kind of wolfsbane but it looked painful. Gerard wouldn't risk killing her, he needed her too much. She did have that spark in her eyes that screamed 'crazy', even if she wasn't totally gone yet, she was going feral.

"How's your pet Hale? I hope I didn't scare him too much." She smirked.

"What happened to your pack Kali?" Peter asked, equally smug.

Her smirk fell off her face and she flashed her red eyes at Peter.

"You tell me Hale! The last time I was here, my pack was fighting yours while I tried to get to the ones you held prisoners! I would have gotten them if Argent's men hadn't been so stupid. And then… Nothing. My pack never came back to me, I don't even know if they're still alive."

"Argent's men? The humans we caught around the house were Argent's?"

"He came to us, me and Ennis, he promised us Beacon Hills if we helped him get rid of your pack. He wanted revenge for something to do with his daughter."

"Well, your plan failed, and we're still here. So what the hell are you doing in our territory?" Derek asked even though all he wanted to do was to attack her.

"The prisoners… what happened to them?" She asked, almost pleadingly, instead of answering.

For an instant, Derek dropped his guard and looked down. What had happened in that basement after the battle had been one of his recurrent nightmares since that day.

"Talia killed them." Peter said with a cold voice. "When we got back to the house, she went straight to the basement and tore them to pieces. It took us days to clean up that mess." He joked.

It was obviously not what she had wanted to hear as she roared savagely, completely wolfed out, and threw herself at Peter. The three of them fought, she was out numbered but even without a pack, she was still an Alpha, still stronger than both of them together.

As Derek was on the floor, spitting blood after she had kicked him in the face, she lifted Peter and hit him violently and repeatedly against a wall until he was unconscious, then she dropped him there and marched towards Derek.

Derek was just back on his feet when she grabbed him by the throat and lifted him above ground. He couldn't breathe, he tried to claw at her hands but her grip was only getting tighter and his strength was leaving him. He was going to die, he couldn't breathe. He tried one last kick with his left leg and aimed at her thigh. Suddenly he was on the floor gasping for breath and she was on her back withering in pain and holding her wounded leg.

He used all the strength he had left to get up before her and as she lifted herself from the ground, he took her head in his hands and twisted as hard as he could.

The cracking sound echoed in the ally. He dropped her body as he felt a familiar rush of power go through him. He looked up, his eyes shining a bright red, and saw his uncle, his mouth agape, staring at him in shock.


	33. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

"We should call Deaton." was the first thing Derek said after snapping Kali's neck. It wasn't as catchy as 'I'm the Alpha now' but he wasn't the same guy anymore anyway.

"Why? Derek, she's already dead. Deaton can't change that!" Peter said hysterically. He had started to pace in small circles once the shock had worn off.

"We need him to get rid of the body." Derek answered in a deadpan voice. He didn't let his uncle argue and took his phone out.

The conversation with Deaton was quick and to the point, though Derek did hear the emissary breathe a resigned sigh right before he'd hung up. They found the key to the clinic's back entrance as Deaton had instructed and got inside the same garage Derek and Stiles had went through so long ago, in another life. They carried the body inside and closed the door behind them.

They couldn't go any further since the door was part of the mountain ash perimeter, so they waited. A few times, Peter opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something before closing it back again, and before he'd managed to actually say anything, the door opened and a very tired looking Deaton walked in.

"Bring her in, I'll show you where the furnace is."

* * *

><p>Derek didn't want to talk about it. It's not that he didn't like being an Alpha the first time, but this was different; he already had a Pack and he had an Alpha. Besides, he hadn't been a very good Alpha that first time, and the only reason he had gotten better was because he had help from Stiles. Derek wasn't supposed to be an Alpha, not while both his mother and Laura were alive.<p>

But there was no way Deaton would let him leave without trying to talk, and what kind of Alpha would he be if he didn't listen to the advice of an emissary.

He was staring through the window in the clinic's OR when it finally happened.

"You know what this means, right?"

"What? Being an Alpha? Been there, done that."

"You need a pack Derek. Otherwise, your instincts will drive you mad and you will turn into something so dangerous that you would need to be put down. Just like Kali."

"I already have a pack." Derek whispered, defeated. "I don't want to lose them. Not again."

"Derek, there is something you need to understand; you are no longer Talia's Beta … But she is still your mother. You might not be part of the same pack anymore, but your family loves you. I know it's hard to see it, especially in family packs like this, but there is a few differences between Pack and family."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile at the Hale house, Isaac, Scott and Stiles where siting on the living room couch and Talia was on the chair next to them. Scott and Isaac were asking every question that came through their minds while Stiles stayed silent. He was listening to the conversation absentmindedly but was too worried to participate. Eventually they ran out of questions and Talia took Scott upstairs to some 'safe room' to practice control after telling Isaac and Stiles to make themselves at home. While his friend settled on the couch to watch TV, Stiles went to the kitchen and sat at the breakfast bar. He tried calling Derek but the werewolf had turned his cellphone off.<p>

A few minutes later, Nathan walked in in his pajamas, hi thumb in his mouth and a worn out teddy bear in his other hand.

"Hi Sti'…" He said sleepily with his thumb still in his mouth.

"Hey little dude… Why are you up so late?"

"I woke up and I heard your silly heart beat so I came to say 'Hi'."

A small smile reached Stiles lips. Spending a lot of time with Derek also meant he got to spend a lot of time with Nathan, Talia worked a lot so Nathan was always at Derek's when he wasn't at Peter's being taught by Fred since he was still home-schooled. The first time Stiles had spend time with him, Nathan had asked why he had a 'silly heart beat'. At first Stiles was confused but Derek explained that his heart beat was faster than most and slightly irregular.

Stiles got up and crouched in front of Nat'.

"That's nice buddy but it's late. Let's get you back to bed okay? I'll even read you a story if you want."

"I'm not a little kid, I don't need a story!" Nathan whined, finally taking his thumb out of his mouth. Stiles saw an opportunity and took the newly freed hand in his to then walk towards the stairs, Nathan following him instinctively.

"Okay, well then maybe you can read me a story."

"But you're a grown-up, grown-ups don't need stories."

"Sometimes, even grown-ups need help to fall asleep." Stiles explained as they started to climbed up the stairs, but Nathan stopped walking after three steps and turned around towards the front door.

"What is it?"

"Derek and Uncle Peter."

As if on cue, Derek and Peter walked in, their clothes torn and stained with mud and blood. Talia, Cora and Scott arrived from upstairs and Isaac walked in before Stiles reached the bottom step.

"Jesus Christ, what happened?" Talia asked, her eyes staring with a grave expression at her oldest son.

Derek looked down at his feet.

"I had to." He whispered, his voice full of remorse. When he finally looked up, his eyes were red.

* * *

><p>Isaac, who felt overwhelmed and out of place, had taken Nathan back to his room while all the others went to the living room. Derek and Peter explained everything, from the hunters in the preserve and Gerard Argent to asking Deaton for help with Kali's corpse.<p>

Talia and Cora looked pale, their eyes fixing Derek with worry. Stiles had a small idea of what was going on, he had read a chapter on pack dynamics the last time he was here, but he was still a bit confused. Scott was far worse, he sat on one of the chairs, staring blankly at his hands resting on his knees.

"So… You killed her and… Deaton… my boss helped you get rid of her body?" Scott asked through his lengthening fangs, his breathing becoming shallow.

"Scott, look at me." Derek said with calm and authority. Scott automatically looked up with his shining golden eyes.

"I'm not proud of what I did, but in her case it was the best thing… the only thing to do. She was becoming dangerous, you saw it."

Scott nodded but his breathing got worse, to Stiles it looked like a panic attack, and hair started to grow on the side of his head like sideburns.

"Scott, take a deep breath. Remember what we practiced; you have to find your anchor." Talia said with a tone of voice similar to Derek's.

"I… I can't…" Scott was panicking, growls could be heard between every breath he took.

"Close your eyes Scott." Derek ordered firmly, when Scott did as he was told, he continued. "Okay, now I want you to describe Allison to me."

"What?" Scott asked, reopening his eyes to cast a baffled look at Derek.

"Close your eyes." Derek repeated firmly. "Just picture her smile, her eyes… focus on her."

Scott tried once more, this time following Derek's instruction, and his extra facial hair started to disappear, his breathing slowed down and when finally reopened his eyes, he looked 100% human again. Everyone in the living room sighed in relief, Cora had a small smile on her lips and looked at her brother with fondness.

"You see Derek, you're already a good Alpha." Talia said with pride in her voice as a single tear rolled down her face.


	34. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Scott asked for the fourth time since he and Derek had gotten into the car, causing the Alpha to roll his eyes in exasperation.

"Yes Scott, I haven't changed my mind in the last 2 minutes."

"Well I'm not, Stiles is right, this is the worst idea of all time."

"I know it's only been a week but you have an excellent control for someone who just got bit. You'll do fine." Derek reassured his beta.

"That's not what I'm afraid of."

"Well, at least they already know about werewolves, so I won't get screamed at this time."

"You shifted in front of my mom without a warning, what did you expect?" Scott said hysterically.

"… Stiles warned her…" Derek whispered as a petulant child, pouting.

"Stiles saying 'Werewolves exist' is not a warning… At least with my mom, there was no risk of me getting shot." Scott argued, crossing his arms and staring out the window.

"They won't shoot you."

"We're about to tell my girlfriend's werewolf-hunting parents that I'm a werewolf."

"Okay, you might get shot, but they'll probably use non-lethal bullets, you'll heal." Derek said as he parked in front of the Argent's suburban house and got out of the car immediately after.

"Probably?!"

* * *

><p>Visiting the Argents might have seemed crazy, especially with Gerard around, but after a week of spying on both father and son, it looked like they weren't in contact. Derek wasn't stupid, he knew Gerard would try to get the bite from him now that Kali was out of the picture. The hunter had to be stopped, fast and without getting the other hunter angry. They needed an alliance, and Chris Argent was their best bet. Still, sitting in the Argent's living room with tea and biscuits was probably the most awkward moment of his life.<p>

"I'm sorry we couldn't come to you sooner, but I wanted Scott to have more control for this conversation and we wanted to make sure Allison would be out of the house, since we weren't sure if you wanted her to know." Derek continued after having explained Scott's situation without getting a response.

"Well, now I think we don't have much of a choice." Victoria said coldly.

"I know you'll probably want to separate them, but I don't think anything good would come of that. I can assure you that Scott will be trained daily to learn absolute control and if he keeps improving as he has in the last few days, your daughter won't be in any danger."

"We will be the judge of that. Now, since you're an Alpha now, I assume you need a pack of your own, correct?" Chris asked Derek after staring down at Scott for a few awkward minutes.

"Yes, I've already approached two people that I know. They're both the same age as Scott, one of them is epileptic and would benefit from the bite and the other is someone who, I think, needs a pack as much as I do."

"Teenagers?"

"It's easier for teenagers to adapt, I talked to my mother's emissary and he agrees that it is the best solution. As I said, I already approached them and gave them time to think about it. If you wish, I can arrange for them to come and talk to you before they make a final decision."

"Yes, I think it would be best." Chris agreed, clearly unhappy with Derek's decision.

"There's one last thing we need to discuss… Gerard is in town… and we need your help."

* * *

><p>Stiles was compulsively searching the internet for inane and useless facts when Derek finally jumped in his room through the window he had left wide opened for that very purpose.<p>

"I told you it was a bad idea." Stiles said while still looking at the Wikipedia article about 'Coychurch Lower', who knew, he might visit south-wales one day.

"It wasn't that bad!"

"According to Scott's texts, it was 'the most awkward, disturbing and scary conversation he's ever had', and I've heard Melissa's idea of the sex talk, it was all that and more."

"Yeah well, I didn't get shot or screamed at and they seemed to believe me about Gerard. That's all that matters." Derek sighed, laying down on Stiles bed and closing his eyes for a minute as Stiles kept on reading. He couldn't believe how everything had gone to shit in such a small period of time.

"Who's Heather?" Derek finally got the courage to ask. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about the weird conversation between Isaac and Stiles; something about what had happened that night before Kali attacked them. Stiles finally turned his desk chair around to look at Derek who was still laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Wha… Why…She's no one, just a friend."

"A friend who kissed you?" Derek asked with a hint of jealousy.

"Yeah, I got plenty of those it seems." Stiles retorted.

"What happened at the party?"

"Nothing."

"It doesn't sound like nothing."

"No, but I bet it sounds like 'none of your business'." Stiles said angrily as he spun back around to stare at his computer screen.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked." Derek said after a few seconds of cold silence. Stiles sighed as he dropped his head in his hands, rubbing his eyes before getting up and sitting next to Derek on the bed. It took him a few more seconds to get the courage to start talking.

"I've known her since we were three… We're not 'friends', not really, but we keep in touch. Anyway, it was her 17th birthday party and… she asked me to be her first."

Stiles paused to see how Derek would react but the man was just looking at him, waiting.

"And for a moment I thought… why not? It's just sex, right? So I went to get the condoms from her brother's stash in the bathroom… I just stood there, with a box off XXL condoms in my hand, and I realized… I didn't want to. I mean, sure, I want to have sex but … not just for the sake of having sex… and not with her…"

Stiles felt the weight shift on the bed as Derek moved to sit next to him.

"It was probably for the best, using condoms the wrong size is almost as bad as not using them at all."

Stiles' head spun so fast he almost got whiplash and he opened his mouth to yell at the insensitive prick when he saw Derek, his eyes twinkling with mirth and the corner of his lips curving into a smirk.

"You asshole!" He still yelled, hitting Derek's shoulder before they both started to laugh.

* * *

><p>A few days after their meeting with Chris Argent, both Erica and Boyd came to Derek to join the pack. Things were a little bit awkward between them and Derek at first. They barely knew each other after all.<p>

They had to wait for the next full moon to pass before he gave them the bite, but they joined him and Scott every day to learn to meditate as well as ask questions they still had. Derek let Scott answer to see how much he remembered and was rather pleased to only have to add a few things to the teenager's explanations.

Scott's first full moon was spent in the safe room in the Hale house but the teenager only had to be chained to the wall for a few hours, which was a good sign.

The next day, Derek was reading on his bed at his apartment when he heard someone knocking at the door. He got up when he caught Isaac's sent but Paige had been closer to the door. She opened it and immediately turned around to stare at Derek with her worried/judging look that was usually reserved for when Stiles was around.

"It's for you." She said, making her way back to her own room.

Isaac, who seemed preoccupied, stayed on the door step until Derek motioned him in.

"I want the bite." The teenager said when Derek turned towards him after closing the front door. "I want to be part of your pack." He continued with conviction.

Derek almost said no. No, you don't need to. But instead he just asked "Why?"

"My brother… He told me what you did. A few month back, your name came up and he told me you were the one who had convinced him to stay. He's been taking care of me for so long… I want to take care of him to. I want to protect him."

"You don't need to be a werewolf for that, you can still be part of the pack while human. Like Stiles."

Isaac gave him a sly look and raised one eyebrow.

"Okay, not exactly like Stiles. Still, you don't need to become a werewolf."

"I know. I thought about it… I don't know why, I just… I feel like it's what I'm supposed to be."

Derek studied the teenager for a while before turning back towards the front door and grabbing his keys.

"We should get a move on then."

"Why, where are we going?"

"I already planned to give the bite to Erica and Boyd tonight, if you want to be turned with them, you need to talk to Argent first." Because there was no way Derek would give the bite to anyone without letting Argent know, he needed him to keep an eye on Gerard for them.

* * *

><p>A week after the full moon, Stiles, Scott and Isaac where at Lacrosse practice (under the watchful eye of their Alpha who was hiding at the edge of the forest behind the field) when Stiles noticed that something was wrong with Scott. He refused to listen to any of coach's instructions and just went around smashing into people, making impossible jumps and scoring goals after goals. After ten minutes, coach Finstock lost it.<p>

"What the hell McCall? Get off my field! This is a team sport, we're not here to watch you play with yourself! You better get over yourself before practice tomorrow or you won't be first line for long!"

Stiles watched as Scott took off his helmet, threw it on the floor hard enough to break it (causing another fit from coach) and walked off to the locker rooms. He quickly decide to follow his best friend, missing Isaac trying to tell him something as he ran after Scott.

The locker room was dark and Scott was nowhere to be found.

"Scott?"

A loud noise rang, like something banging against a locker at the back of the room.

"Scott?" Stiles tried again as he walked towards where the noise had come from. Finally, he found Scott sitting on the floor in a corner, his arms around his knees and hiding his face.

"Scott, you're okay?"

"She broke up with me." The beta whispered, his voice deeper than normal.

"Allison? When?"

"They told her… She called me right before practice."

"What did she say?"

"She was crying…" Scott continued with a whimper.

"Dude, she probably just needs time."

"Why would she want to be with me now, I'm a freak."

"Scott, you're not a fre-" Stiles said softly.

"LOOK AT ME!" Scott yelled as he jumped back on his feet. His eyes were bright yellow and Stiles saw a flash of fangs and claws before Scott pushed him against a locker so hard, it would bruise. Then Scott held him there for a second, his clawed hands around Stiles upper arms, until he was thrown on the other side of the room by a pissed off Derek.

It just took a loud roar to turn Scott into a sobbing mess. They helped him out of his lacrosse gear and the four of them left the school to go to Derek's place.

They called Erica and Boyd and soon they were all in the living room, eating junk food and watching every Die Hard movies with Scott in the middle, surrounded by his pack.


	35. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

The plan was simple, and maybe that's why it went wrong. Chris had managed to keep tabs on Gerard for a month, his father pretending to stay in town for business while he was probably planning his next move.

Derek kept his pack hidden from the hunter as much as possible, especially with Scott still recovering from losing Allison, making sure he wasn't followed every time they met and patrolling regularly around the places they spent most of their time in, like his apartment, the Hale house and Stiles'.

Everything was going according to plan, and when Chris got wind from one of his father's men that they were finally going to get the Alpha, he didn't waste any time and texted Derek to tell him they had to act, now.

As planned, he called Gerard and asked to meet at their old warehouse. He pretended to have some ancient artifact that his father would be interested in, hoping that Gerard wouldn't be suspicious of his own son and come alone or with only one or two of his guys. And when he arrived at the warehouse, it looked as if they had been right… but not for long.

Gerard stood there, one of his men on each side of him, as the five hunters working for Chris got out of the shadows, and held the three men at gun point. Derek also joined Chris and Victoria from where he had been hiding, as well as Peter and Laura who had refused to let him do this on his own.

"So this is how it is now son? Betraying me wasn't enough, you had to betray your heritage by associating with those beasts?"

"I'm not the one who's betrayed our heritage father. We have a code… Considering what happened the last time you were in this town, you'd think you would have remembered."

"Those freaks of nature don't deserve your mercy Christopher."

"So why would you want the bite then? Aren't hunters supposed to choose death over becoming one of the creatures they hunt?" Derek asked.

"How could I let my dynasty die with me? My daughter will be in jail until she's old and gray, my son chose his precious code over his own family… Did you really think I was going to let something as boring as cancer kill me? No, I won't rest until every shape-shifters have been put down… And what better way to hunt them than becoming an Alpha myself?"

"Your master-plan is over old man." Peter smirked.

"Oh but it has just started." Gerard answer with a satisfied look.

That's when everything turned to shit.

"You see, I had time on my hands while we tried to figure out what had happened to Kali, so I asked some of my men to keep an eye on my son… just in case, you know? And what a surprised it was to see one of the Hales willingly visiting the local hunters. I knew something was up when, the very next day, Christopher, who hadn't so much as called me in years, suddenly made contact again. It wasn't hard to figure out what you wanted, so I had one of my men let it slip that we would go after the Alpha and, lo and behold, I got an invitation for a trap in less than 12 hours. Now, I didn't have much time to improvise a plan, so you'll excuse the sloppiness on some of the details, but if you want young sweet Allison to make it out alive, I suggest you get those men to put their guns down and give me what I want."

* * *

><p>In the office overlooking the whole warehouse, Stiles was freaking out in silence. He wasn't supposed to be here, it wasn't part of the plan, but he couldn't stay behind. He had been present when the plan had been made, it took him half a day of research to find the warehouse (Derek had refused to tell him exactly where it was) and then it was dumb luck that Chris had sent the text when Stiles was playing candy crush on Derek's phone (Derek had refused to admit it but he had been blocked on the same level for weeks and Stiles was a good pre-boyfriend like that).<p>

Anyway, he had sneaked into the old dirty office hours before anyone got there. He could hear everything thanks the echoes in such a huge opened space and he could see everyone being confused and worried after Gerard mentioned Allison before getting a cellphone out of his pocket. Soon enough, Allison's voice could be heard. She sounded terrified.

Stiles closed his eyes for a moment, thinking as fast as he could to find a way out of this. When he opened them again, he looked down at Derek and whispered.

"Derek, can you hear me?" From where he was, he saw Derek tense and struggling not to turn around towards the sound of Stiles voice. "Good, don't turn around. You need to stall him, I have a plan."

* * *

><p>It wasn't much of a plan, but after hearing that Allison was in danger, Scott wasn't in any capacity to argue. He called Erica, Boyd and Isaac and they met in front of Lydia's house, where Allison was supposed to be. Her car wasn't there but they managed to find a scent to track down. It took them a lot longer than they had expected but they weren't has good as Derek yet.<p>

Soon, they found the abandoned car at a gas station and followed the scent of Allison's fear and distress to an old wooden shack at the edge of the forest. Four men were patrolling outside and they could hear three more inside.

"There's too many of them." Boyd said wisely. "We'll never get passed those four guys, let alone the ones inside."

"I don't care, we need to save her." Scott argued, trying to jump out of their hiding spot and failing as Isaac and Boyd held him down."

"Be realistic McCall, we just started training and these guys have guns." Erica explained as if he had been a grumpy five year old.

Scott stared at all of them with rage as they stood there silently.

"So what do we do?" Isaac finally asked. Then a new voice sounded behind them.

"What are you guys waiting for?"

"Cora? What are you doing here?"

"Stiles called. Come on, they won't hold off much longer."

The fight was quick and messy but they carried out what little plan they had. Scott, Boyd and Isaac attacked the four men from the front while Cora and Erica sneaked into the shack to take care of the three men inside. By the time they were done, all seven men were unconscious, Scott and Boyd only had small cuts that were healing rapidly, Isaac had a wolfsbane laced bullet in his left arm, Cora looked fine even though she had blood dripping from her mouth and hands and Erica had a broken leg for a few minutes but she could feel it heal.

Scott finally got to Allison, asking her over and over if she was okay, if they had hurt her, until she wrapped her arms around him, hiding her face in the crook of his neck as she sobbed silently.

* * *

><p>Back at the warehouse, things were starting to go haywire. Allison's parents were yelling at a smug looking Gerard, their five men still standing around but no longer pointing their guns at the old man and Peter and Laura had adopted a defensive position in front of Derek. Then more of Gerard's men arrived and Chris cast a look at Derek, ready to give him up to save his daughter when suddenly they could hear commotion from the phone that had gotten silent a while ago. Everyone froze as they heard growls, gun shots and screams. Finally it all stopped and all they could hear was Cora's voice saying "All clear, Allison's safe."<p>

Before anyone else could react, Chris and Victoria started shooting towards Gerard, hitting one off his men as the man himself hid behind him. Everyone joined the fight and it was a mess off bullets with the three werewolves taking care of Gerard's men while the Argents fought each other, shooting over and over again as they hid behind tables and barrels.

Thankfully, the hunters bullets were non-lethal, even if they were laced with wolfsbane, and Derek kept fighting even though he had been shot at least five times. They had the upper hand when bullets started coming from above and Derek looked up to see Stiles shooting towards the three hunters that had surrounded Laura. Unfortunately, other hunters saw him and started shooting at him. Derek got so distracted, he didn't realized that he had wandered on the other side of the warehouse, where Gerard was, until the Argent had grabbed him from behind and put a knife at his throat.

Rapidly, everyone stopped fighting, waiting for whatever Gerard was going to do now.

"Well, I have to admit you were a lot harder to get then I anticipated Derek. But now I g- ARRGH" Gerard screamed in pained as he back away, the knife falling from his hand. When Derek turned around, he saw an arrow coming out of the man's shoulder. At the entrance of the building, Allison stood with a bow, a quiver at her back and an new arrow ready, aiming at Gerard. She had the same look of determination Derek remembered from when she had started fighting before. She was surrounded by Derek's betas and Cora, who jumped in the fight to get rid of the remaining hunters, except Isaac, whose arm appeared to be injured, he stayed by Allison's side, protecting her in case someone tried to get to her.

Soon enough, the hunters were taken care of and everyone surrounded Gerard. Allison dropped her weapon as Chris kept his father at gun point, staring him down with hate and sorrow.

"You won't kill me Christopher. I know you, you're not like me." Gerard taunted with a smirk.

When the gun shot echoed in the warehouse, everyone turned to Victoria, her gun raised as she looked down at the old man's body with the same look Derek had seen on Talia's face on many occasions.

It was finally over, so Derek took the opportunity to sit down as the two wolfsbane bullets in his thigh had been killing him. Everyone was mingling around, checking other's wounds, making sure the weapons were taken from the unconscious men.

Stiles sat next to him before letting his head fall on the werewolf's shoulder. They stayed in that position in silence for a few moments as Derek checked his betas one by one. Erica was fussing over Boyd even though he looked uninjured, Isaac was wincing while trying to look tough as Cora checked his arm, Scott was shaking Chris's hand as Allison was both smiling and crying in her mother's arms.

They were okay. They had survived.

"Are you okay?" Stiles finally asked, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled between them.

"Yeah, I'm good. We're good."

"I meant, about those bullet wounds, are okay? And don't say yes, that's a stupid answer." Stiles asked again, raising his head to face Derek, their faces just an inch from each other.

"Oh that? Yeah, it hurts… a lot. Chris brought a first aid kit I think."

"Do you want me to get it?"

"No… Not yet." Derek whispered with a smile as he leaned down, joining their lips in a tender kiss.


	36. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Derek woke up slowly that day, the early morning light not yet bright enough to be annoying. Stiles was still sleeping heavily, his entire body filling his half of the bed as if he had fallen asleep while stretching. They practically always fell asleep in each other's arms, except on the rare occasion when they didn't go to bed at the same time, but every morning was a bit of a surprise for Derek since Stiles couldn't stay still, even in his sleep.

Derek admired his boyfriend's figure, his pale skin and likable moles, his lean muscles… It didn't take him a long time to decide that it was the perfect opportunity to initiate lazy morning sex. Derek climbed on top off Stiles, careful not to touch him yet, and went directly for the enticing treasure trail. He took his time, exploring lower and lower as Stiles started to move and moan underneath him. He was lazily kissing and liking his lover's inner thigh when Stiles asked "Wha'time's it?". Derek had no idea and, anyway, he had no time to answer as Stiles jumped out the bed with a squeal, hitting Derek's face with his crotch on the way.

"Jesus Stiles! Warn a guy before hitting him with your dick." Derek joked while sitting up on the bed to watch Stiles running around, putting on articles of clothing as he founds them.

"You never complained before." Stiles teased in kind.

"You forgot to set your alarm again?"

"Yeah, sorry. I know you don't work on Monday mornings anymore, I'll program my alarm for next week, I promise." Stiles said while putting on his shoes before grabbing his bag. He gave Derek a quick peck on the lips, then made his way towards the door. "I'll see you at lunch! Oh, and can you go to the grocery store this morning? The list is on the fridge! Love you! Bye!" He kept shouting as he walked through their small apartment until right before he slammed the front door shut.

It had been over a year since they had fought Gerard and their life had been pretty normal since then. Well as normal as being part of a werewolf pack could be. Things were difficult for the pack lately. They couldn't all be together because of college, even if they had managed to stay in the same state.

Stiles was studying Forensic Sciences at Stanford where Derek got a job at the library. He had been rather lucky, as the librarian in the English literature department was soon going to retire and the man had remembered Derek from when he'd been a student. Scott was still in Beacon Hills, taking classes at the local community college and working at Deaton's clinic before trying to get into Veterinarian School next fall, he was still dating Allison but she was at UCLA, studying business. Isaac and Boyd both decided to join the Police Academy, with the promise of a job at the Sheriff's department once they'd graduate. Erica chose not to go to college and worked as a PA/Secretary for Talia and Laura in their local law firm. She and Boyd had started dating a few month back. Derek couldn't remember his pack being so happy before.

* * *

><p>Derek had no idea how special that day was until he saw something intriguing while walking the few blocks between their apartment and the grocery store. At first it was just a glimpse. The back of a woman's head that made him do a double take, even though he couldn't figure out why. Then he turned left and there she was, standing still on the sidewalk, facing him… The witch that started all this.<p>

Not knowing where to start, he just said "Hi.", and she smiled gently at him.

"Hello Derek."

As he just stood there in shock, she asked him if he wanted to talk over a coffee and directed him toward a shop nearby. Derek was just going through the motion as he ordered his regular espresso and followed her to a table hidden in a corner of the coffee shop.

"I'm sure you must have a lot of questions." She started.

"Yeah, I just… don't know where to start." Derek said, alternating between staring at his drink and looking up at her in wonder.

"Well, my name is Anwen Edison. How's that for a start?"

"And you're a witch."

"Yes, I was born a witch. My mother was one to."

"How did you… Why did you…"

"Sent you back?" She asked and Derek nodded, still confused by her presence.

"I mean, I assumed it was a spell but… I never heard of anything like that before."

"A spell is required, yes, but it's a rather specific power. Only a witch born with the mark of Janus can use it, and there is only one every five generations."

"So, you're the only one in the whole world right now?"

"Yes, I read in one of my coven's ancient tomes that the only time two witches were born in the same generation with the mark, they almost destroyed Time itself by trying to use their power at the same time."

"So… you can travel through time?"

"In essence. But I can only go back and for obvious reason, I can't go back further than my own birth… Well, I can go as far as my conception, technically, but I'm never doing that ever again."

"And you can take people with you?"

"Just one. It's a bit of a challenge, I have to search for a date of birth just to make sure I don't send them before they even existed."

"So… When you came to Beacon Hills, your plan was to send me back all along?"

"I wasn't sure yet… I observed you first."

"But why me? How did you even know about me?"

"Your uncle Peter found me. I was hiding in my grandmother's house, in Wales. I had only used my power intentionally twice, and the second time was to fix what I had changed the first time. After that, I left my coven and sworn never to use it again. Then Peter showed up at my door. I have no idea how he found me, or how he even knew about me. He told me about your family and the fire. He wanted me to send him back a day before it happened. He just said he wanted to stop it from happening but I knew he meant to kill whoever was responsible."

"So you said no. Wise decision. But why send me back?"

"I was intrigued I guess… and I just… I wanted my powers to do good, at least once. This mark…" Anwen said showing the symmetrical symbol on her wrist. "… it's supposed to be a gift. It only ever brought me pain and sorrow, but I hoped that it could be a gift for you."

They looked at each other in silence for a moment, Derek seeing the sorrow she had mentioned reflecting in her eyes. She didn't look older than 30, but her eyes seemed older than that.

"Did I do good? Is the world better now?" Anwen asked, her voice full of hope.

Derek didn't hesitate for second before giving her a blinding smile.

"Yes, the world is better now. My world his better now. And that's all thanks to you."

* * *

><p>Hours later, as he watched Stiles trying to eat while telling him both how amazing his morning classes were and how annoying the douchebag who had sat next to him had been as he'd kept sending notes to the girl in front of them, Derek couldn't stop himself from smiling, because, as he had hoped, all this was worth waiting 24 years for.<p>

_The end._

* * *

><p><strong>I had a lot of fun writing this. It was my first Sterek ever and my first fanfic in a long time. I learned a lot from it, it only took me re-editing it all to notice it. It's also the first fanfic I ever deleted accidentally, I hope everyone who had been reading it from the start has managed to find it back.<strong>

**There isn't enough words to describe how great it feels to get so many positive feedbacks, and I hope that my next fanfic will have as much amazing readers.**

**Thank you for reading my work, you guys are the best!**

**Ana**


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